Cursed
by TheFox101
Summary: When strangers arrive, Harry and the gang must soon decide whether they are friend or foe. Who are these strangers? And how far will Harry and his friends have to go to return them safely home? Borrows from Whydoyouneedtoknow's Dangerverse.
1. A Fall From the Sky

Beta-ed by the wonderful Anne Walsh (whydoyouneedtoknow) Here is Chapter One Revamped!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. JKR owns most, and Anne Walsh owns anything you don't recognize. This borrows from her Dangerverse but it's written for people who haven't read them as well._**  
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xXxXxXxXx_**  
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_**Chapter One**_

**Harry,**

**Mate, you missed some freaky stuff today.**

_Oh, honestly Ronald. That's practically egging him on. It's not his fault he isn't here._

**I never said it was his fault. Go write on your own letter, Hermione.**

_If you're sending this to him, we may as well make it both our letter. But he is right, Harry – you definitely missed some interesting stuff today._

**Interesting? INTERESTING? Tickling the tentacles of the Giant Squid is interesting. Watching the twins prank somebody is interesting. When was the last time you saw eight people fall out of the sky Hermione?**

_This afternoon. Listen, Harry, while he's off being a prat in the corner – oh yes you are, Ron, do be quiet. Instead of staying at Grimmauld Place this year (honestly, I didn't want to go back) and instead of staying at the Burrow (purely off limits due to the wedding), Ron and I are staying at Hogwarts this summer. Well, to be accurate, not just Ron and I. Ginny and Luna and Neville are here as well. As well as Malfoy. Now Harry, I KNOW what you're thinking, and stop thinking it. Voldemort didn't attack._

**Well, he didn't attack US. Now, mate, before you panic (and don't try to deny it, Harry, you tend to panic), nothing bad happened. Well…actually…something bad did happen. But…Merlin, how do I explain this!**

Try letting someone who has an IQ over 1 give it a shot.

**Was that supposed to be funny, Ginny?**

_I thought it was._

**Well, no one asked your opinion, did they, Hermione?**

While they bicker, I'll try to get a spare word or two in. Hi, Harry, how's your summer been? Ok, niceties over, we have a problem. What my brother was so unwittingly trying to explain is… we were sitting out by the lake ('we' being Ron, Hermione, Luna, Neville, and myself) when all of a sudden this freak storm hits. Before you jump to conclusions, Harry, we're not hurt, just shaken up a bit.

_But it wasn't a natural storm Harry. It struck the willow near the lake, nearly tore its roots off. Lightning was everywhere, there was this bright blue light, and then…suddenly nothing. Except people hitting the ground at high speeds._

**Here's your translation, mate. You remember when the Dementors swarmed the Quidditch pitch and you fell off your broom? Well, imagine what it would feel and look like if Dumbledore hadn't slowed your fall and that's what happened to these people.**

We didn't get a good look at them, just enough to know they were rather seriously hurt. Well, Pig is getting pretty anxious, we should probably send him off.

**What are you talking about, Ginny? Pig is always that annoying. Anyway, mate, hang in there. We'll see you real soon.**

_Chin up, Harry, you won't have to endure the relatives much longer._

McGonagall has been dropping hints about picking you up in time for your birthday so be ready. Three more days.

Hoping for peace and quiet around here,

Ginny

**Ron**

_Hermione_

Harry chuckled as he read the letter from his friends, watching Pig twit noisily around his room before Hedwig shut him up with a rather well-placed wing. The letter had just arrived by the tiny Scops owl that morning. His train of thought derailed for a moment as he looked at the calendar. The sun was just peeking over the horizon and the date circled said July 31.

He let a small smile lift the corner of his mouth. He was sixteen today.

Hastily he grabbed his trunk and popped it open. His school robes lay untouched at the bottom. His homework was done out of the sheer necessity for something to do in his torture of boredom with the Dursleys, so all his books lay in a somewhat neat pile near his robes. Grabbing his Firebolt, he laid that in carefully, followed quickly by the broom care kit Hermione had given him for Christmas three years ago. His new Muggle clothes followed – Tonks and (he assumed) an entire group of females (most likely including Hermione, Ginny, Luna, Fleur, and even Mrs. Weasley) had bought them for him, and they included several solid color t-shirts in blues, reds, greens, and blacks as well as pairs of jeans that actually fit him.

There were also some Wizarding World t-shirts and long-sleeved shirts that he _knew _Ron had a hand in buying. His favorites showed a lion ripping apart a snake, a small figure on a broom flying around a dragon, and a Seeker chasing after a snitch. He even had Gryffindor sweatshirts in several different styles and a bunch of jumpers.

Smiling reminiscently he put all his new clothes in his trunk, then chucked in the bag of the clothes the Dursleys had given him for all those years, which included the run down trainers with holes in them (Ron had mentioned in an earlier letter to bring them, something about a ceremonial burning of the trash). Tonks had been especially sure to hand him the brand-new black Doc Martens right in front of Dudley's greedy face, a sight which Harry had particularly enjoyed. In also went his quills, rolls of parchment, and ink bottles; the Quidditch strategy books Ron had given him; and several pairs of loose socks. Finally, lest he forget them, he wrapped the Marauder's Map in his father's Invisibility Cloak, set them carefully on top, and fastened the trunk shut.

Hedwig was already asleep in her cage so it was no trouble to shut it; she didn't even peek open an amber eye. Just as Harry was putting on a green jumper for the journey, the doorbell rang. He waited with bated breath until…

"BOY!" Uncle Vernon's voice thundered.

Grabbing his trunk and Hedwig's cage, he ran down the stairs. "Wotcher Harry," Tonks said, winking. Her hair was neon green today and spiky. Aunt Petunia looked close to shuddering just from looking at it.

It wasn't until Harry was out and breathing fresh air that he got a good look at Tonks. She looked… uncomfortable wasn't the word. Unsettled? Yes, that was a good one.

"What's up, Tonks?" Harry asked worriedly.

"It's been… an _unusual_ couple of days, Harry." She glanced sideways at him. "But I'm sure you'll find out soon enough. Soon as we get to Hogwarts, I assume."

She threw out her right hand dramatically as she said this. With a loud BANG, a large purple triple-decker bus appeared. The pimply conductor, Stan Shunpike, wrung Harry's hand as if they were long lost friends.

"Hogsmeade Village," Tonks told Stan crisply, and Harry saw a flash of gold that meant a Galleon had exchanged hands. "And step on it, if you will."

xXxXxXxXx

The smallest girl lying in the Hogwarts Hospital Wing struggled to the brink of consciousness.

Lethargically she debated whether she wanted to wake up or not. Finally, with an effort, her mind snapped back into her body. And immediately wished it hadn't.

_Ouch. _

Meghan lay as still as she could, determined not to move. She could tell, just from the effort of concentrating, how sore she was going to be. Voices made themselves heard closer to her bed than she would have liked.

"I think this one's waking up," one voice said loudly.

"Ron, you idiot!" another voice hissed, thankfully softer. "If she wasn't before she is now."

_If I ever get the chance I'm going to thank every deity there is for Danger's powers, _Meghan thought to herself as she debated her next move. _And then again for _my _powers…_

She peeked her eyes open and immediately closed them against the glare of the sun through the window she was facing. _And that clears the question of what time it is, for the most part. _

Despite her instincts she wriggled a bit to get herself used to moving, then voiced her first thought. "Ow."

"Madam Pomfrey!" the first voice shouted, making Meghan wince. "This one's woken up!"

"You need to learn to shut up," Meghan told the voice without opening her eyes, her words slurring tiredly.

Somewhere nearby someone chuckled and stepped in front of the window, throwing Meghan into shadow. She opened her eyes again warily but closed them against her headache. She had already seen the form of Madam Pomfrey, the nurse, bustling her way next to her bed.

"How do you feel, dear?" the woman asked kindly, moving to help Meghan sit up.

"Like a herd of hippogriffs ran me down," Meghan answered tiredly.

Someone chuckled again and Meghan managed to lift a corner of her mouth in smile.

"Well, you certainly have your sense of humor back, if you had one before," Madame Pomfrey remarked crisply, but a hint of amusement crept into her voice. "Do you know your name?" she asked, holding Meghan's wrist to check her pulse.

"Meghan Black."

"How old are you?" she asked while she lifted the girl's eyelids to shine light into her eyes.

"Thirteen," Meghan answered, wincing against the bright light. She blinked slowly and opened her eyes just as slowly, adjusting to the light of the room around her.

"Birthday?" Madame Pomfrey was checking her reflexes.

"June 1, 1983," Meghan answered promptly.

"Well Meghan Black," Madame Pomfrey pushed herself to stand, "You seem to be in fine health, apart from the fact that you hit the ground fairly hard. Drink this," she shoved a rather disgusting looking brown potion towards the girl. "It'll keep you awake and thinking clearly. Get up and try to walk around as soon as you think you're ready." With that the woman turned on her heels and strode away towards another patient at the end of the ward.

"Hi," said a voice, one Meghan recognized from when she had just been waking up. "I'm Ginny. I think these are yours." Meghan turned. The girl had flaming red hair, brown eyes, and freckles. She also had two items in her hands that Meghan was very much wanting back.

With a squeak she grabbed them, nodding her thanks to Ginny, and turned to set them on the bedspread and check to make sure they were all right.

First she snatched up the shining silver dagger, checking the edge crosswise with her thumb. _Good and sharp. Excellent. _The yellow jewels on the pommel glittered in the sunlight. With a satisfied nod, she tucked the dagger into the belt around her waist.

Then she bent and picked up her wand. _Ebony and unicorn hair, _she thought with content, _eight and a half inches long. _She ran her hand along the wood before tucking it into her pocket.

Pushing the bedspread back in order to sit cross-legged, Meghan observed her observers. Ginny, as she'd already noticed, had red hair and freckles, as did the boy standing next to her, though he had blue eyes and was quickly introduced as Ron.

"I'm hungry," Meghan said feelingly after a moment of awkward silence. "Any way I could get something to eat?"

Ron, who had brightened at the prospect of food, nodded eagerly. Meghan smiled and jumped off the bed. The room seemed to spin for a moment and she fell back to lean against the bed, placing a hand to her temple. Ginny frowned worriedly.

"Are you ok?"

_Whoa, _Meghan thought, _backlash. _"Yes," she said aloud, "just stood up too fast. I'm fine now."

And she followed the Weasleys as they led her towards the Great Hall.

xXxXxXxXx

Ginny watched their new 'visitor' quietly as the three of them, plus Hermione who'd had to be introduced, ate lunch. Ginny had run a few words through her head for what to call these people, 'intruders' and 'travelers' being among them, before she had settled on 'visitors.' After all, what were you supposed to call people who fell from the sky?

Meghan had said she was thirteen, but she was a petite thirteen, small and graceful. She had dark chocolate brown skin and long eyelashes that rimmed lively gray eyes. Her hair was in tight braids against her head, an indeterminable shade between black and dark brown. If it was unusual for a thirteen year old to keep a dagger in a special belt and to continuously press a reassuring hand to her breastbone every so often, she didn't show that she knew it. She acted quiet and polite, exchanging a few words between bites, but mostly concentrated worriedly on her meal.

Ginny was mulling over these thoughts, slowly chewing on a sandwich, when the doors to the Great Hall opened. She beamed and stood up to greet their newest arrival. Harry looked a little pale, a little tired, but most certainly looked happy to be back. He shook hands warmly with Ron and hugged Hermione and even Ginny herself, causing the redhead to blush slightly. He glanced at the newest arrival and lifted an eyebrow at his friends, a silent question.

"Harry, you remember the letter we sent you?" Hermione asked carefully, shooting a sidelong glance at Meghan.

"Yes…" Harry nodded slowly and Ginny watched as his eyes widened in understanding. "Oh."

"Meghan, this is Harry," Hermione told the younger girl, who shook Harry's hand politely. "Harry, this is Meghan Black."

Harry, to his credit, showed minimal reaction to someone magical having Sirius' last name. Black was, however, uncommon enough among magical people that he had to ask…

"Black, huh? Are you pureblood?" He tried to phrase his words so that he wouldn't offend, but needn't have worried.

Meghan shook her head. "Half-blood. My Dad is pureblood, but my Mum is Muggleborn." _Absolute truth,_ she thought as she turned back to her meal.

They were finishing up when Neville walked in through the open door. "Hey guys," he said breathlessly as he came up to their table. "I'd hoped to find you here." He nodded in welcome to Meghan who smiled back. "I was just up at the Hospital Wing, and Madame Pomfrey sent me to get you," he said to Meghan. "She says some of the others are starting to wake up."

Meghan brightened visibly for the first time. "Let's go," she said, disregarding the rest of her meal. Ron looked miserably at his half-finished meal before allowing himself to be dragged off towards the Hospital Wing with the rest of the group.

Meghan was running ahead of them, but they picked up the pace when they heard her shriek. They discovered the source of the shriek as soon as they got to the door. Seven other people sat on respective beds, all looking tired and sore. Harry and the others went in and shut the door behind them.

Meghan was already in the arms of a woman who could only have been her mother. She had dark skin as well, and the two had the same braided black/brown hair and the same way of holding themselves. A light-skinned, brown-haired man with blue eyes next to them reached over and pulled the laughing teenager into his lap, tickling her even as he kissed her forehead. Finally, Meghan hugged a boy about their age, who visibly winced as his sister embraced him tightly. His dark skin was only a tad bit lighter than hers, he had straight dark brown hair like the man, and he shared Meghan's silver-gray eyes.

A different couple of about Meghan's parents' age sat next to the family, grinning at Meghan and hugging her as well. She seemed positively delighted to see them too.

She turned back to Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Luna (who had met up with them sometime on their way up) and beamed at them. Ginny thought she saw a glint of gold for a moment but it disappeared so quickly she didn't dwell on it.

"Guys, this is my Mum, Aletha Freeman-Black, my Dad, Patrick Black, and my brother, James Black." She indicated the woman, the man, and the boy (in that order). "And my Uncle John Gray and my Aunt Gertrude."

"But everyone calls me Danger," the woman, Gertrude (Danger?), told them with a sigh and a glare at Meghan who just grinned impishly at her.

The man Meghan had indicated as her Uncle John had red-brown hair that fell slightly over one eye and blue eyes swirled with brown. Danger had lots of wavy hair an indeterminable shade between blonde and brown and brown eyes swirled with blue.

Meghan's eyes lit up for a moment, as if she'd just remembered something, and she turned back to her aunt and uncle. "Where's the twins?"

"The twins?" Ginny asked.

"Our kids," Mr. Gray answered for her, "They're your and James' age." He looked around the Wing suspiciously. "Twins?"

"Yes?" two voices called out innocently and simultaneously.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing."

"Then get over here," Danger ordered, though her mouth twitched up.

Two kids came through the curtain. They both had identical auburn hair with glints of gold. One had such light blue eyes that they looked almost gray and the other had sharp blue eyes the same color blue as John's. Both had identical looks of innocence on their face.

"What did you do?" Danger asked suspiciously.

"Nothing," the twins answered again.

"Yeah, and I'd believe you too if I didn't know you so well." Danger put her hands on her hips in a way that demanded an explanation _now_. Something crashed behind them and all four adults rolled their eyes skyward as if asking for patience.

"Who goes and checks?" Mr. Black asked Mr. Gray wearily. Both men put their fists in the palms and pounded once, twice, three times. Mr. Black threw out a flat hand, Mr. Gray threw out two fingers.

Mr. Black swore under his breath as Mr. Gray punched the air in victory. Mr. Black went warily past the curtains; there was a yelp, another crash, then silence. Ginny snuck a glance at the twins and then did a double-take. She could have sworn that one of the twins had gray eyes and one had blue, but now they had blue-gray eyes, or was it a trick of the light?

As she studied the oddities of their eyes she noticed something else peculiar. Each twin had a vertical scar, about an inch or so long, across their cheekbone under their left eye. Confused, Ginny shook her head and looked to where the curtain was swinging again as Mr. Black came back through.

He was covered in glue and feathers and his eyes were crossed as he looked at the beak where his nose should have been. Ginny and the others erupted in laughter.

The twins, seemingly unable to hold it anymore, collapsed in fits of laughter, joined quickly by James and Meghan who were holding each other for support. Even the adults averted their gazes and visibly tried not to laugh.

"Go ahead," Mr. Black snapped at them grumpily. "Laugh it up."

As ordered, the adults gave in, and eventually even Mr. Black had to laugh.

Mr. Gray recovered first to wave at the twins, who were still rolling on the floor. "The boy is Reynard and the girl is Jane," he told Ginny and the rest.

Mr. Black had molted by then, his nose shrinking back to normal.

"Good thing you changed back, Dad," his son, James, commented. "You looked like…Professor Grumpy like that."

For some reason, this set the room off again. Ginny shrugged.

xXxXxXxXx

Hogwarts was quiet that night, its halls disturbingly empty of ghosts and persons alike. Mrs. Norris, Mr. Filch's cat, stood in one of those hallways, listening with sharp ears. All she heard up and down was the soft pad of another animal's paws inside the Hospital Wing, something like her own. A student's pet, then. She continued onward.

A figure whispered something, a sound like grinding stone, and the figure disappeared.

He was already there with his fingers running across the piano keys, not hard enough to make a note.

He didn't even turn around at the sound of cat paws on the floor. "Hello, Neenie," he said aloud.

If anything, the look the cat gave him would have been called a glare, as though its plan had been thwarted. He turned to look at the cat, grinning, and she leapt at him. He caught her, supporting her back paws, and she leapt to his shoulder to rub against his ear.

**I hate it when you do that. **

He chuckled and went back to looking at the piano; this time his hands sketched out a melody. Softly the chords trailed up, then down again, the last three chords, then repeat.

**I know you do, Neenie. That's why I do it. **

She hissed softly at him, as though in annoyance, and he felt the weight on his shoulder leave him. The bench creaked softly and he gave a deft wave without looking up. "Made a little noise on the landing. I give it a 8.5."

"Oh do shut up," she told him grumpily.

He turned to look at her, his eyes meeting the calico's eyes in her face. "Something the matter?" he asked in concern.

"Everything!" she snapped.

"Going to have to be a bit more specific, Neenie."

"This whole situation is the matter!" she snapped louder.

"If you want, I could always do the Trouble-Taking Dance," he said dryly.

Her eyes widened and she giggled softly. "Amusing as that would be, no thanks."

"Aw, come on." He jiggled an elbow into her ribs, producing another giggle. "You know you want to see me act like an idiot."

"You do that every day, Fox, why should it be so special now?" But her giggly mood didn't last. Her face fell and she stared at the shelves of books lining the room. Their pages, usually so intriguing, now seemed dull.

"Want to talk?" he asked softly.

"No."

"Despite popular belief Neenie, I can't read your mind," he said gently.

"Not over there you can't." She sent a sideways grin at him that he returned.

Neenie's ears practically twitched and the boy saw her head swing around towards where they had come in.

"We should probably get back," she said suddenly and made her way cat-like towards the entrance, he just a step behind her.

Madam Pomfrey, just closing her office door behind her, didn't even notice two tiny creaking sounds from the far end of the Wing where the visitors slept.

In the darkness, ensconced in beds separated only by a nightstand, the two figures ran two fingers down the side of their face, reached across the space between them, and pressed the two fingers to each other's cheek.

The castle fell into complete silence once more.


	2. Something Werewolf This Way Comes

For some reason beyong my comprehension this chapter was deleted. Which is weird...Okay. Page Breaks in, as requested. Standard Disclaimer: I own nothing. JKR and Anne do (respectively). **

* * *

Chapter Two **

It was daytime the next day and the adults had left to have a - what was turning out to be very lengthy - conversation with Deputy Headmistress McGonagall, leaving Harry and the others sitting across from the kids.

In a very awkward silence.

"What I wouldn't give for a recording of crickets."

Harry's head snapped up to meet the smiling face of the boy twin, whose name he vaguely remembered as something beginning with a "R". Whatever his name was his comment seemed to break the ice, at least among his cousins and sister. The dark boy who Harry definitely remembered as being named James broke out into a grin and poked his cousin in the shoulder.

"Wussy can't stand the awkward silence," James said with a wolfish grin.

"Oi! I can stand it!" the boy twin yelped.

"Yeah? 6 Sickles says that I can be silent longer than you can," James challenged.

"You're on!"

The room fell into abrupt silence.

The girl twin closed her eyes - to conceal rolling them, Harry assumed. She and Meghan shared a look that Harry recognized as one that Ginny and Hermione often shared. It roughly translated into the universal "boys".

In the meantime Harry snatched a glance at his friends. Neville was staring out the window, occasionally reaching up to push back a lock of hair, which Harry had noticed was getting longer. Luna's eyes were slightly unfocused and she had her wand behind her ear. Harry vaguely heard her humming under her breathe as she played with the necklace of butter beer corks around her neck.

Ron was acting as strange as Luna (though in Luna's case she was acting quite normally). He would stare at the girl twin for a long time, then look away when the power of his stare drew her attention, then go back to staring when she got distracted again.

Hermione was noticing this, her face carefully neutral.

And finally Ginny. Ginny, his best friend's sister, who was sitting (Harry thought) remarkably too close to him, though from a regular, non-slightly-biased objective there was a respectful distance between them. He realized he was staring after a moment and shifted his gaze back to the kids opposite.

"What!" the snap came so quickly after he had turned Harry thought briefly that he might have been the cause. Then he noticed the girl-twin glaring heatedly at Ron.

Both of the other boys broke their staring contest and their silence, turning immediately.

"What happened?" the boy-twin asked in concern, when no one answered he looked to his twin, "Jane what happened?"

"Him!" Jane waved her hand angrily towards Ron, "He just keeps staring at me Ray, and then acting like I don't notice anything. It's bloody annoying…"

"Jane," her brother tried to interrupt.

"…and really not very considerate at all…"

"Jane."

"…if he doesn't stop I might even hit him…."

"JANE!"

She jumped in surprise and turned to James, "What?"

"Will you please be stop it?" the dark boy asked in exasperation, eyeing his cousin like she might decide to smack him.

"Stop what?" Jane asked irritably, "He's the one staring."

Every time she brought that up the area around Ron's neck became increasingly redder.

"Janie," her twin grabbed her arm to keep her from turning and Harry jerked a little in surprise.

Yesterday Ginny had mentioned the strange phenomenon of the twins' eyes, only in passing, and laughing it off like it was nothing. Now Harry wasn't so sure she had been mistaken. Jane's eyes had been distinctly blue and Ray's distinctly grey, but now they both had swirling blue-grey eyes.

He nudged Ginny in the ribs - mentally stopping himself from allowing any kind of heat towards his face when she looked at him - and jerked his head towards the twins. She gave him a puzzled look and glanced over. Her eyes snapped back to his in shock.

"I was right" she mouthed silently. He barely nodded his head. The door closed as the twins slipped into the hall.

Unknown to them, Reynard Gray was calming down his sister.

**He really shouldn't have been staring Fox, it was making me uncomfortable. **

**No reason to jump all over it Neenie, you're normally not like this. Talk to me. Is something else wrong besides what happened?**

**No…Yes…Maybe. **

**Well its got to be one of those. **

She administered a mental glare, **Quit joking around. I don't know why you're not more upset.**

He sighed, both aloud and in his mind, **Of course I'm upset, who wouldn't be? Even Wolf is upset no matter how much he tries to deny it. Only Pearl is acting anywhere close to normal and that's because she cheats. **

In his mind she grinned, **She does cheat. That's not fair.**

**I think I know what's bothering you,** Ray informed her in a sing-song voice.

Quickly he sent a mental image: lots of bright red hair, freckles, and bright blue eyes smiling at her and shouting to come on, that they were missing out on all the good stuff because she was going so slow but both of them knowing he'd never really leave without her.

**That's not fair either** she said to him silently, her throat currently being too tight to talk. Her vision was blurry - which was odd - and she looked down at her brother's arm, which had gone around her in a comforting hug. There were dark spots on his sleeve, appearing faster as her vision got blurrier. She reached up a hand to touch her face and it came back wet with tears.

_Oh_…she gave into the emotion bubbling up inside her and buried her head into his shoulder.

* * *

Back inside the Hospital Wing, James Black pressed a hand to his chest as it flared hot, then lukewarm. He rubbed the bits of metal resting underneath his shirt and sighed. They'd been getting a lot warmer over the last couple of minutes and he knew - without having to look - that the picture of the cat was glowing. 

He noticed Meghan running her hand along the gold chain that circled her neck as well and his fingers flew. She watched him for a minute, the nodded very slightly and took her hand away.

"What was that?"

James resisted a sigh and turned to meet Ginny's eyes unflinchingly (a skill Harry noticed with envy). The younger girl looked curious and just short of accusing.

"What was what?"

"That."

"What?"

"That!"

"What that?"

James' face was carefully controlled but his sister was fighting hard not to laugh. By the time Ginny turned to glare at her Meghan's face was as neutral as her brother's.

"What was your question?" James asked blandly.

Ginny quickly took in a deep breath to retort and let it go just as quickly, "I forget."

"Works every time."

Ginny huffed indignantly and turned to start talking with Hermione. If James noticed she was pointedly ignoring him he said nothing, and instead turned to start having a whispered conversation with Meghan. As the twins walked back in Harry saw James' hand flash towards them. They came over and melted into the conversation. He would have eavesdropped but they were talking too quietly to hear.

Neville and Luna were not really people he would talk to at the moment, Ginny and Hermione were ignoring everyone else and talking to each other, and Ron rejected every attempt to start a conversation. So Harry started to watch the four "guests" talk. Every so often their hands would move along with whatever they were saying and Harry implanted each sign he could catch into his memory.

It wasn't long after that that the adults came back. The four kids promptly went to their parents and left to be shown their guest suite. McGonagall refused to tell them what had been discussed and dismissed them to the common room.

And so while Ron trounced Neville solidly in chess, Luna and Ginny did homework, and Hermione read; Harry closed his eyes and thought of those hand signals.

It wasn't normal for kids his age to know hand signals. Especially not enough to have complete conversations. But that wasn't what bothered him most. What bothered him most about the hand signals was that they were naggingly familiar. He got the feeling even though he didn't recognize them that he _should _recognize them.

A thought flitted at the back of his mind. Immediately Harry thought of something else. His mind was reviewing Quidditch strategies when a memory swamped him.

_

* * *

Harry sat drawing random pictures in the dust of Grimmauld Place's kitchen table with his finger. Sirius and Lupin sat a couple of seats down and across from each other and seemed to be having a semi-serious conversation. _

_Lupin said something and as Harry watched Sirius made a hand signal. He made a fist and transferred his thumb from the inside to the outside. Lupin let out a laugh. _

"_What was that?" Harry asked curiously. Sirius turned to look at him with a grin. _

"_It was a Marauder hand signal," Sirius explained patiently. "Your father, Remus, and I made them up while we were at school. It was an excellent way to talk in class or make fun of someone behind their back." _

_Harry laughed. "Which one was that one?" He asked. _

"_Surprisingly enough your father came up with that one," Sirius said, "It means "What the hell is this person talking about?"" _

"_We used that one a lot in class," Lupin added. _

* * *

Harry sat bolt upright with a strangled yell. Ginny and Hermione both jumped up in surprised. Hermione looked at him with a worried face. 

"What is it, Harry?" She asked in concern, "Is it Voldemort?"

Harry shook his head and they calmed down some.

"Then what is it?" She repeated.

Harry ignored her. His mind was racing a hundred miles a minute. James had been talking to Meghan and then stopped to carefully listen to whatever Jane had to say. When she had stopped talking James had locked eyes with Reynard and dropped his hand down to his side. His hand had been in a fist, thumb on the inside, and he had transferred his thumb out. Both boys had laughed like a private joke had been exchanged.

Those kids hadn't just been using hand signals…they'd been using _Marauder hand signals_!

Which was entirely impossible.

He quickly and quietly explained what he had discovered to the girls.

"Harry," Hermione said seriously, "Are you absolutely positive it was the same hand signal?"

"Yes!" Harry hissed for the third time, "It was exactly the same. And they both laughed like whatever had just happened was a big joke!"

"Then that's a big problem." Ginny said grimly, turning to stare into the fire.

Harry looked at her. "Why?"

"You said there it was only your father and his friends that knew the signs?" She asked, and then waited for his nod before continuing, "Of four: two are dead…sorry Harry, one is on some mission, and the last. The last I wouldn't trust at all."

The silence that surrounded them was engulfing. Everyone knew what she meant but no one wanted to say it.

"Wormtail," Hermione whispered finally.

Harry stood up purposefully. "I think we have a letter to write."

* * *

Remus Lupin eased his aching bones into a chair in front of the fire and sighed. Number 12 Grimmauld Place, Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, was now the only safe place for him to transform. And last nights full moon hadn't been particularly kind. 

He quickly pressed those memories aside but he knew they'd just come up again. The wolf had been mad that the dark one - _Sirius, _his mind supplied without his consent - hadn't ever arrived, and had ravaged him more thoroughly.

Remus' morbid train of thought was distracted by loud pecking noises. He half-turned his torso to tell the owl to go away and stopped himself.

Hedwig sat on the windowsill.

Ignoring the pain in his joints he got up and made his way quickly to the snowy bird. She flapped her wings up to his arm and hooted gratefully, her head sagging a little with the length of the flight. A scroll was tied around her leg that Remus untied and unrolled. He was surprised to find the scroll blank.

_Oh, yes. Well, I'm stupid._

He put his wand to the paper and said: "I solemnly swear I'm not a Dark Git."

The spell he had created himself (the password was given by a certain dog) revealed the letter that had been hidden.

_Dear Remus - _**Professor Lupin **- _Like I said, Remus, _

_How are you? Alright, stupid question. Don't answer that. In any case, I hope the full moon wasn't too rough on you. _**Real subtle, Harry. **_I'm starting to see what Ron meant by "Get your own letter, Hermione!". _

Remus chuckled at Harry's reference to Ron. That sounded just like something Ron and Hermione would do: arguing in a letter.

_In any case, lets just skip right ahead to assuming that you know about our eight visitors. _

Remus chuckled again. In fact, he did know about them. And visitors was a tad nicer term than the one Moody had used.

_So, quick question. Did you happen to teach Marauder hand signals to anyone else or should we lock up the visitors for being Death Eaters?_

**Subtle: Difficult to understand; abstruse. Examples: Harry was born without an ounce of _subtlety. _**

_Who invited you? _

He almost completely ignored the on-paper argument Harry and Hermione seemed to have had, his mind whirling. These visitors knew Marauder signals? But who…

His blood ran cold. He quickly turned back to the letter.

_Alright, maybe they came by these signs honestly. But I doubt it. Either way I smell a rat. _

**Pun intended? **

_What? Oh…_

Don't worry about it Harry. You're kind of cute when you're stupid. 

_Er - thanks. _

**We'll be sending this off soon, Professor. Take some pain potions and hopefully we will see you soon. **

_Why would he need…Oh. _

Comment about stupid having already been made, no need to remake it. 

_Shut it, Gin. _

_See you soon, _

_Harry_

**Hermione**

Ginny

Remus carefully cleared the message ("Message Managed") and pocketed it. The climb to his upstairs room was painful but manageable and he took his time packing some things. After all, if he was going to Hogwarts, he'd need something else to wear than his pajamas.

* * *

The "stupid" banter between Harry and Ginny in the letter is from Anne's (Whydoyouneedtoknow) A Little Slice of Heaven. Great story.  



	3. It's Really Not Good For Us

Standard disclaimer: I own nothing except my car, which is rather like a dog. I have to feed it...wash it...take it out regularly...

A/n: As promised, Chapter Three! You finally get to see **:slaps hand over mouth:** whoops.

xXxXxXxXx**Chapter Three - It's Really Not Good For Us**

James Black stretched his not-inconsiderable length along the bed in his bedroom of their suite and sighed.

"…says we're not…"

"Well, I don't…"

"…your voice down…"

James lifted himself up again almost immediately. He got up slowly so as not to make the furniture creak and pulled off his shoes. His socks whispered slightly along the floor as he got close enough to the door to hear the whole conversation.

"All things considered I think it's amazing we're even healthy enough to sit here in the first place." Said one voice, quickly identified as his mom.

"Well…that's optimistic." The voice of his dad said with a hint of sarcasm.

"I never said it was optimistic, I said "all things considered"."

"In all reality, Letha, I think we're lucky to be _alive_ to sit here in the first place." That was Danger's voice.

"You think, or you know?" Asked the voice of his Uncle John.

There was a sigh, then, "I know."

"You had another true-dream and you didn't say anything?" His mum asked sharply. James winced on behalf of his aunt: he knew that voice. Lecture time.

But it never came. Instead the door he had his ear pressed against swung open and he went flying forward.

_I have to stop listening at doors, _he thought as he tumbled. _It's really not good for me._

The man he addressed as "Uncle John" stood towering over him. Then again, sprawled spread-eagle on the floor as he was, this feat wasn't particularly difficult. His blue eyes looked half-amused, half-annoyed and he was in the stance that James easily translated to "stupid, idiot boys".

"How much did you hear?" Danger asked from her spot at the table.

James allowed himself to be pulled to his feet and then found an uncommon interest in the floor. "Not much."

"Liar." Came a voice from behind him.

"Meghan Black!" Their mom shouted.

"Oops." Came the voice from behind the door again.

"Good going, Meghan!" Said another voice. There was a long pause and then, "Oops."

There was a sound distinctly like someone's hand making contact with their forehead and then the door across the hall from his own swung open as well. Uncle John turned to look at the three silhouetted in the door.

Meghan seemed to find her fingernail delightfully interesting, Ray was apparently scratching a design in wood with his shoe, and there seemed to be a spot just above Uncle John's head that Jane found absolutely fascinating.

"Very well," Uncle John said finally. "If you want to hear the truth, better to hear the whole truth."

He led them back into the small kitchen area and waited until they found extra seats and sat at the table.

"You remember what happened," Aunt Danger started solemnly, "two days ago…"

Gertrude leaned back against her husband with a happy sigh as she watched their "cubs" amusing themselves. They were in the small clearing just outside Hogsmeade that they had once used to fly in during their days in hiding.

The same purpose was being used again. Except this time it was legal.

The day was perfect: clear blue skies and a light, crisp breeze. Not to hot, not too cold. You didn't get many days like this during the humid month of July.

Their sons were doing something on their brooms that involved a lot of dives and shouting. Gertrude, called Danger by her family, grinned. Their pale-blonde son had just turned sixteen and his counter-part, their dark-haired son, was turning the same age in…

She grabbed her husbands wrist and pulled it up so she could see his watch.

_12 hours_.

He grunted but didn't do anything to stop her, instead he placed a kiss to her temple. They both closed their eyes a moment and enjoyed the feeling of family all around and the delightfulness of peace, even if it was just for a moment.

And then the peace shattered.

Danger bolted up as Meghan let out a shriek. High above them, their dark-haired son had slipped from his broom and was falling faster and faster as his brother dove to try and catch him.

Her husband vaulted to his feet beside her and brandished his wand.

"ARRESTO MOMENTUM!"

The body of their son slowed considerably and he hit the ground with very little actual force. Aletha was there anyway, running an expert wand along up and down him.

"There's nothing physically wrong with him," she said finally, punching her husband's leg as he hovered. He glared at her. By this time Danger's brunette sixteen year old little sister (some people mistook her for Danger's daughter but, no, definitely her sister) had joined the group from her spot by the trees.

She leaned against her twin worriedly. "What's wrong Fox? What happened to Wolf?"

"Don't know Neenie. He just…fell." Fox answered tightly.

"I thought we already established this. Wolf doesn't fall and the only time he did was…"

"The bludger. I know!" Fox snapped. He glanced up guiltily a moment later. "Sorry Neenie."

Meghan placed a hand on Wolf's forehead and took it away quickly with a small shake of her head. "Nothing I can do. He has to wake up and tell us what's wrong."

"And in time for his birthday," Meghan's father quipped.

Wolf snapped up suddenly, throwing Meghan backwards and just missing colliding heads with Fox. His eyes flashed around wildly.

"We have to go, we have to get out of here!" He shouted as he scrambled to his feet.

"Greeneyes, what-?" Letha started, to be interrupted.

"No time to explain! Just trust me we have to go!" His green eyes pleaded with them.

"Alright," Danger turned to go get their things but Wolf grabbed her arm.

"No, leave the stuff! We have to go NOW!"

As if sensing his desperation her husband grabbed Wolf and pulled him close.

"Side-along Apparation. Everyone grab a kid."

Letha grabbed Meghan, Letha's dark-haired husband grabbed Fox, and Danger grabbed Neenie.

"Let's -" Danger began. She never finished as a bolt of sickly orange light shot out of the trees and impacted Wolf.

Her steadfast son fell screaming to the ground; her own husband followed a second later. Four more bolts of light, four more crumpled. Danger turned and shielded Neenie with her own body. As the orange light hit home she understood why the others were screaming.

It was like someone had replaced her blood with acid and it was determined to eat its way through. It was like someone was breaking, one by one, every singled bone in her body. It was worse than the Cruciatus. The pain was so intense that she barely even heard Neenie dropping beside her. She had long since lost the feeling of the ground beneath her.

But that's because the ground beneath her. It was slipping away, like sand, between her fingers. She cried out and seven answering cries reached her ears through the pain. Their were moving; being pushed or tugged or both.

Desperately she grabbed what she had of her wild magic and threw it like a net, concentrating her whole mind on keeping them close and keeping them together. Somewhere in the link Meghan was throwing out her own net of magic, keeping them alive, keeping them sane.

They impacted solid ground at a speed that no normal person could live through. Meghan's power flared as it kept them from being mortally wounded. The little girl passed out first, exhausted, even as the others added power to keep her awake. Danger was the last one to fall, and the last thing she saw was five pairs of bright, familiar eyes staring at them before her world was black.

Sitting beside her in the small kitchen, Neenie-Jane shuddered. Fox-Ray reached over to grab her hand.

"That was horrible," Meghan said in a small voice.

"Yes, well, we've been a thorn in Voldemort's side for far too long." Meghan's dad said gruffly.

"Dumbledore isn't here, cubs," Letha said quietly. "He's off finding You-Know-What's. So we just have to hold out for a few more weeks. Maybe the first week or two of school."

"Think you can do that?" Danger asked. Four determined heads nodded.

"Good," Danger's husband said grimly. "Because our getting home depends on it."

James-Wolf shook his head, his eyes twinkling. He turned to look at Fox.

"Fox, what is it with us and almost dying every year?"

"It's a habit we do need to shake," Fox replied, nodding sagely. "Not good for our health."

Danger just laughed.

"We're telling you Remus!" Harry Potter said urgently, almost seconds after Remus Lupin entered the Gryffindor Common Room, "There's something weird about these people."

"They fell out of the sky, Harry," Remus replied, "That already constituted them as weird."

"Yes, but…how do you know this isn't a trap?" Ginny asked.

"Minerva sent Fawkes with a message to Dumbledore almost as soon as I told her. Dumbledore says not to worry and that he's on his way back. He says they're okay."

The air was still thick with tension. Remus sighed.

"Do you trust Dumbledore?"

He caught and held every pair of eyes in the room as they nodded, finally resting on Harry's. After a moment of reluctance, Harry nodded too.

"Good," Remus said sternly, "You should. If he says it's alright, it's alright." He smiled. "Now go to bed. It's late and you have only a few weeks until school starts."

He left as they shouted "Boo" at him but did as they were told. His smile faded as he stepped into the corridor and headed towards the rooms he had been given. They all wanted Dumbledore back, he thought, and the sooner he gets here the better.

But three weeks passed by with barely a word from the wizened old Headmaster. It was finally the night of September 1st and still no one had seen hide nor hair of him.

Harry and his friends including, unfortunately, the sneering form of Draco Malfoy grabbed onto the Portkey that would bring them to King's Cross. To avoid suspicion they would ride the train like any normal student. James, Jane, Ray, and Meghan also had a grip on the Portkey.

When McGonagall had first said that the new "visitors" would be joining them Harry had argued. He had been overruled, thoroughly. All in all, it was a tense train ride up in which very little talking was done and very little laughs were shared.

When they got to Hogsmeade station the "visitors" went with Hagrid and the first years. They didn't seem very happy about this.

And to Harry's surprise and happiness, Dumbledore was sitting on his golden throne when they arrived.

The First Years filed in, wet and soaked, and at the very front stood their…well, not their friends. Their _acquaintances. _

After the Sorting Hat listed and described the four Houses, it went into a new part of its song:

_But though we are not all the same, _

_Nor should be, truth to tell, _

_We need each other, one and all, _

_To live and to live well. _

_So yellow, blue, and red and green: Lay down your ancient strife, _

_And join as one to face the threat _

_To liberty and life. _

_Forgive old grudges, let them go, _

_And welcome strangers in, _

_For only thus comes any hope _

_That you can ever win._

McGonagall unrolled the list as she motioned for the four visitors to come forward.

"Gray, Reynard."

The boy leaned back on the stool and placed the Sorting Hat on his head.

And that's where I'm leaving you, for the moment. Not particularly suspenseful, but you never know what ideas I'll come up with during now and my next update (maybe Monday or Tuesday, depending).

xXxXxXxXx

Thank you so much Anne (whydoyouneedtoknow) for the Sorting Hat Song. Also, Hestia, if you're reading this, GREAT IDEA! I'll start working on it right away.

And ha, now the rest of you are just wanting to know what the idea was…


	4. Pain and Remembrance

Previously:

**"Gray, Reynard." **

**The boy leaned back on the stool and placed the Sorting Hat on his head. **

xXxXxXxXx

_Hmm…yes. Interesting, very interesting. _

Reynard knew enough not to jump at the little voice in his ear.

_I've sorted you before. Twice before…and in two different places! How interesting…_

_**Yes, I believe we established this is interesting.**_

If hats could look offended, Reynard had the distinct impression the Sorting Hat would have done it.

_Well, pardon me for breathing. _The Hat harrumphed.

Ray was tempted to point out the that Hat didn't breath but restrained himself.

_And I saw that. _

However that didn't seem to have helped much.

_I refuse to sit here and listen to you make fun of me. _

A rush of panic filled him. Did Hats hold grudges? Would it put him in the one place he didn't want to be?**_ I'm not-_**

"GRYFFINDOR!"

He could swear he heard the hat chuckling as the red and gold table exploded in cheers. He jogged over to the table and slid in (much to Harry's displeasure) in the empty seat next to Neville, all the time muttering about stupid hats that led people to believe they were about to meet imminent death and other horrible things.

"Black, Meghan." The Hat took less time with Meghan than it had with Ray, and she bounced into the waiting arms of her cousin when it shouted "GRYFFINDOR!".

"Gray, Jane." Jane barely had the hat on her head for more than a few seconds before it placed her in "GRYFFINDOR!".

"Black, James." The hat touched his head "GRYFFINDOR!" and came off his head. The dark boy intercepted the hugs of his sister and cousin with good grace.

Dumbledore got up to say a few words - inane words, but words nonetheless - and the food appeared. Ray leaned around Jane.

"The hat didn't take long to sort you in Gryffindor." He said casually under the clatter of forks.

James gave him a half-glare. "You know why."

Ray nodded sagely and turned back to his food.

xXxXxXxXx

Harry was glaring daggers at them from three seats down as Ray leaned over and said something to Neville that made him laugh. Hermione was trading book titles with Jane, which seemed to fit somehow.

"I'm sorry," he said irritably with a hint of ice, "Did we do or say something over the last few weeks to make you think this was okay?" His glare intensified as he looked straight at Reynard. Harry had an unexplainable and unreasonable dislike of the Gray boy.

"Eating? Well you certainly haven't stopped us…" Gray said.

Gray winced slightly and turned to glare at Meghan, who gave him a cheeky little waggle of her fingers. It seemed like she had kicked him under the table.

Harry felt the heat of another glare boring into his skull and half-turned. Ginny's eyes were practically on fire.

"What?" he asked cautiously.

"What is your problem?" Ginny hissed, nodding towards Gray to show who she meant.

"I don't like him." Harry answered and turned back to his food.

"You barely even know him!"

"I just don't like him, okay?" Harry hissed back. He looked up as a flash of fire - almost too fast to see - erupted in front of James. A note fluttered down.

Harry felt a flicker of jealously. Why would Dumbledore want to talk to _him_? Why not him - Harry, who had battle Voldemort again only three months ago?

xXxXxXxXx

James caught the piece of parchment before it hit the table. It was written in familiar spindly writing. He beckoned Meghan to come over. She ducked under the table and came out there side, pushing against Ray to make room.

_James, _

_Your parents and I have planned a meeting for tonight, directly after the feast, in order to discuss possible solutions to your problem. It would be acceptable to all if you would like to come. The password is "Mars Bars". _

_Sincerely,_

_Headmaster Dumbledore_

James looked up to the podium and caught one twinkling blue eye. He nodded, indicating the other three as well.

They'd be there. They wanted to find a solution as bad as Harry seemed to want them out of his life.

He chuckled as he slid the piece of paper into his pocket.

"_Problem". _He thought. _Tactful as always. _

xXxXxXxXx

Albus Dumbledore eyed the eight people sitting in front of his desk over his half-moon spectacles. To the untrained eye they looked tired but healthy. To Dumbledore they looked ragged and exhausted, having obviously just barely recovered from a very traumatic experience.

He began talking before any of them could.

"Imagine my surprise when I felt the very fabric of magic waver." He said, slightly amused, "I believe there is a Muggle movie reference to that. I felt…'a disturbance in the Force'."

James snorted and quickly covered it by coughing. Jane and Ray clasped hands. Meghan wasn't laughing as long as you didn't look too closely at her mouth.

"You're positive we affected the fabric of magic?" John asked, his blue eyes very swirled with brown. James had recovered from his coughing fit by then.

"Never doubt the Force," he told his Uncle, completely deadpan. Aletha reached over and flicked her son's ear.

"So," Dumbledore continued, leaning back in his chair, "Did you travel through time, space, or both?"

John took a deep breath. "Space…we believe."

"You believe?"

"We think we're in a parallel universe."

Dumbledore's eyebrows rose. "And, if I may inquire, how did you come to this conclusion?"

Patrick gave a roguish smirk. "Seeing copies of our children tipped us off, you see." He winced as his wife kicked him in the shin, unknowingly copying what Meghan did to James earlier.

"Yes, I do believe that would clue in the best of us." Dumbledore acknowledged. "May I assume that the faces you wear are disguises?"

The woman called Danger met him eye for eye, which not many people could. "You may so assume."

"But you cannot tell me."

"Got it in one." She smiled at him.

Dumbledore indicated the adults with his hand. "You told me in our earlier conversation, before the children arrived, that you were beginning to leave when you were attacked. Why was that?"

Every eye turned to James. He sighed and told Dumbledore how he knew, what he knew, and what the significance of that was. When he finished Dumbledore looked thoughtful.

"That is very interesting." Dumbledore said finally. "What kind of offensive spell would cause such a rift between the worlds? Do you think it had an influx of power?"

John perked up. "I think -" He was cut off by several groans.

"And some things never change." Patrick muttered.

"If you're going to talk magical theory, do you think we may be excused?" Jane asked politely.

"Certainly," Dumbledore said, "The password to Gryffindor Tower is 'Pride'." He winked one twinkling blue eye at the four children, who all jumped. The adults looked amused.

"Thank you, sir," James said tightly. They all stood up to leave before Dumbledore stopped them. He handed the four of them four small boxes.

"You may have noticed that Fawkes has just recently been reborn. When I went to brush away the ashes, these came with him. Fawkes created these." He said softly. "I'm not sure of the significance but I showed them to your parents. They have told me which should be given to whom. Guard them well."

They nodded gravely, bowed and curtsied as necessary, and left. As the last of the children walked out to the door the young Fawkes trilled. The four packages glowed a soft blue for half a second, unnoticed by all except Dumbledore who nodded to his long-time companion and settled in to talk magical theory.

"Now if you want to talk magical theory, my good friend Remus Lupin, who I believe you've met a few times here before, is wonderfully knowledgeable. He'll be sick for the next few days…"

xXxXxXxXx

James and the others had barely made it out of Dumbledore's office when a tall, red-haired presence made itself known, followed shortly by Hermione.

"We're here to take you to Gryffindor Tower," Hermione explained. They thanked her and the rest of the walk was silent. Rather uncharacteristically, Hermione broke it.

"I may not know you personally, but I have a rather good grasp of your personalities by now. Shouldn't one or more of you have said some witty comment by now?"

James shrugged. "Tired." And continued to stare down at his hand. It was only then that they noticed the four square packages.

Ron was about to ask what they were, but never got around to it. They had reached the Fat Lady. James tugged one of Meghan's braids with tired playfulness and wished her good night before trudging upstairs after Ron and Ray.

He and his cousin took the only two beds with no trunks and both of them pulled the scarlet curtains shut immediately after changing into thoughtfully provided pajamas. In the semi-darkness of his closed off four-poster, James stared at the package in his hand. Carefully he slid open the top of the box and his heart clenched painfully.

_I will not cry. I am a wolf, I am strong, I am Alpha of the Pride. I. Will. Not. Cry. _

Eventually the burning sensation behind his eyes went away. His mantra had made it go, but it didn't stop him from wanting to anyway. Inside the box, gleaming as if newly polished, was a silver chain on which hung the proud silver pendant of a cat-like creature with pointed ears and a stubby tail. A lynx.

He put it on and wrapped his hand around the figure so tightly he was sure the outline was scarred into his hand. He felt that burning sensation coming back. Instead he brought his alarm clock into his enclosure and set it for earlier than anyone had a right to wake up.

He grabbed his wand and placed the strongest silencing charm he knew. He stuck the curtains together. When he was sure he was alone he took a deep, shuddering breath and shifted.

This form was simpler and knew exactly what to do with his tumbling emotions. Wolf tipped back his head and let loose a howl. It was long and sorrowful and plaintive. And it was fueled by the knowledge that no matter how long he howled, the answering yowl of a wild cat would never come.

xXxXxXxXx

The sound of the alarm woke him up just when it was supposed to, especially piercing in this form. He shifted back and grabbed his wand, carefully flicking each and every spell he had been taught before school had begun. When he was absolutely positive he was James again, he took off the silencer and the sticking charm.

To come face to face with Ray.

The deep shadows under his eyes and the graceful owl pendant hanging around Ray's neck told James everything he needed to know.

They changed into the clothes and robes that the house-elves had brought up for them and went down the stairs. The girls were already dressed and curled up in front of the fire. They barely even lifted their heads when the boys sat next to them.

Jane had a soaring hawk around her neck. Meghan had a gleaming monkey. Both girls had red-rimmed eyes. Ginny and the gang noticed at breakfast and (wisely) didn't say anything. Malfoy noticed in the entrance hall, before Potions, the first class of the day, and (unwisely) did.

"What's the matter, new kids? Homesick? Spent your nights like Potter, crying for your parents?" Malfoy snarled, his lip curling into a sneer.

Harry's face blazed red with anger and he was about to shout when -

"I think that he thinks if he sneers enough no one will notice that pimple on his forehead."

Everyone turned to see the casually leaning form of Reynard, his arms crossed over his chest. He was smirking amusedly.

His twin shook her head in obviously feigned seriousness. "No. I think that he thinks if he sneers enough that no one will notice he tried to use Muggle make-up to hide aforementioned pimple."

"Did he really?" James leaned forward to stare straight at Malfoy's forehead. The pale-blonde boy was so dumbstruck that he didn't even respond. "Will you look at that! He did! I thought Purebloods were supposed to be above all that."

"You - you - you -" Malfoy stuttered.

"Think he's overcome with relief that we've finally ousted his secret?" Jane asked her twin.

"I think he's overcome with something. I don't think it's relief."

"You - you -" Malfoy could just not seem to form a sentence of retort.

"So what do you think, Janie?"

"Well, if you take away the sneer, he'd probably verge on good-looking." For some reason Ray shot her a mildly offended glare. "Other than that he's an arrogant bully-"

"You - you -"

"- who can say the word 'you'."

Malfoy finally settled for just glaring at them.

"Now, now." James chided, "No need to be afraid of us…Malfoy, isn't it?"

"This isn't fear," Malfoy said icily, "This is anger."

"Oh…well. Hard to tell one from the other with a face like yours."

"If it was fear I'd imagine my eyes would be wider."

"Yes," James said solemnly, "I'll look out for that next time."

It took Malfoy about ten seconds to realize he was being mocked. He exploded with a volley of curse words and obscenities that some people hadn't even thought were invented. He went on for so long that the combined classes didn't even hear the clang of the bell. When he finally wound down the three visitors were quietly chuckling.

"Creative," James remarked when Malfoy had gone silent, "But I don't think it's anatomically possible. We would be more than willing to assist you if you wanted to prove it, however."

This provoked chuckles from the Hufflepuffs, sniggers from the Ravenclaws, and outright guffaws from the Gryffindors.

Harry stared at the three incredulously. "You're just going to stand there and take it?"

"No, of course not." Ray started.

"You're not?" Ron asked.

Jane picked up her cue beautifully. "No. We're going to sit in there and take it. The bell just rang."

"Why didn't you get mad at him?" Harry hissed to James before they all sat down: James, Ray, and Jane at the table in front of the one Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat at.

"Well, think of it this way. If I get mad at him, it's exactly the reaction he's looking for. He'll have won. But if I stay calm and just throw subtle little insults back, he looks more the fool than I do."

James abruptly turned around as Snape came swooping in the door and the light glittered against the lynx pendant, leaving Harry with more to mull over in his thoughts than the visitor's new necklaces.

xXxXxXxXx

"Can anyone tell me the origin of the Glamour Charm?" Professor Flitwick's shrill voice carried all the way around the room.

Hermione's hand shot up into the air at precisely the same moment as Jane's. They turned to glance at each other in surprise.

"Miss Gray?"

"The Glamour Charm was invented in 1932 by a wizard named M. J. Putney. At that time it combined an Illusion Charm with a Distraction Charm, it was a little less refined than the standard one used today." She started to say something else and winced, shutting up.

"Wonderful. 5 points to Gryffindor. Anyone have anything else to add?"

Not surprisingly Hermione's hand hit the air. "He created it after meeting his future wife of an arranged marriage."

"Good. 2 points to Gryffindor."

Flitwick turned around to answer the question of a Ravenclaw and Jane spun on her twin. "What was that? You don't have to kick so hard!" She hissed.

"You don't have to be such a super-brain all the time!" He hissed back.

"I am not a super-brain all the time!"

"But you're not denying you're a super-brain."

"Both of you, shut it!" James hissed. They did, carefully looking away from each other as their hands brushed.

Harry immediately focused on their eyes. Ray was looking at the desk but Harry was looking straight at his grey eyes…his grey eyes with a hint of blue…his blue/grey eyes…his blue eyes with a hint of grey…

Finally the twins turned to look at each other. Harry jerked back in surprise: Ray's eyes were grey.

"Sorry," the whispered at exactly the same time. They both looked startled for a minute before giving quiet, self-deprecating chuckles. Everyone turned back to pay attention as Flitwick hopped back up onto the desk.

"Now, there are two ways to see around Glamour Charms. There is a spell to remove a Glamour, but it is difficult and we won't be performing it today. The other is a mildly simple Identification Charm. It's incantation is "Identifus Glamorous"." He gave a little chuckle. "Not exactly the most original of incantations."

The class laughed along with him.

"Now, if your subject is under a Glamour they will glow a light yellow. If they aren't, they shall glow a light purple. I'll set up your partners."

Harry did a double-take on the visitors. Their faces were white, even James' under his dark skin. Hermione noticed too.

"Are you guys alright?" She asked worriedly.

Slow but steady nods. "Fine." Jane answered. "Just a little tired."

"Jane Gray and Reynard Gray." Flitwick announced, pointing out the partners. The twins grinned with a tinge of…relief?

"Harry Potter and James Black."

Harry turned to James and shrugged. The boy shrugged back but he was still pale.

James lifted his arm and made the swift flick that accompanied the spell "Identifus Glamorous!" A bolt of blue light shot out.

Harry felt the spell impact him but did nothing to stop it. He looked down as he glowed a soft purple.

He lifted his wand. "Identifus Glamorous!" Just as the blue light was about to hit, James stumbled and it shot past.

"Sorry," James muttered, bending down to tie his shoe. "Try that again?"

James managed to effortlessly dodge the spell three more times, all of them looking like accidents. The fourth time he did it, Harry took a glance at the twins. Professor Flitwick was talking to them like they were slow or something. Seemingly neither of them could get the spell right or they would miss when they did.

Harry was not an idiot. A lurking suspicion grew inside him, fueled by several weeks of doubts.

He pointed his wand at James. "Petrificus Totalus." James immediately froze in place, looking horrified. He blinked one eye hard, three times. He blinked the other eyes hard, three times.

Harry made the swift flick as James took in his third deep breath. "Identifus Glamorous!"

James breathed deep again. Then a fifth time…too late. The spell hit him with a soft thump and he glowed a soft but distinctive yellow. Then he did the impossible and broke through a Full-Body Bind.

His blue eyes were wide and fearful. His…blue/green eyes? No matter, in the time it took Harry to blink he was gone. James took off and slammed the door with a bang. The twins were quick to follow but stopped as Harry leveled his wand at them and roared.

"Don't take another step!"

xXxXxXxXx

James was running. He didn't care where, he was just running. He let his wolf speed trickle into his human body, his legs pumping faster than ever. They carried him up to and through the Fat Lady with a single shout of the password.

It carried him past a bewildered Meghan as he shot through the common room and up the stairs to his dorm.

He leaned against the door when he got there, taking in deep and shuddering breaths. His hand gripped the lynx figure tightly and he didn't notice when it's sharp silver ears dug a ragged cut in his flesh. The cut spilled red blood all over the pristine silver.

_I screwed up this time. I _really _screwed up this time. Oh god, we're never going to survive this now. _

He had to calm down. He had to. He knew he had to but he couldn't so he brought forth the most calming thought he could.

A wolf and a lynx pretending to hunt a doe with a silver monkey flashing in and out of sight trying to grab their tails and tug their ears; nearby a cat and a fox tried to outrun each other as an owl and a hawk wheeled about overhead…

An image of a lynx sprang forth so vividly in his mind that he gripped the pendant tighter and more blood spilled. He threw away awareness and followed the lynx into his mind. It darted past a barrier where it stood, hazy and unfocused, almost like it was taunting him.

He threw his energy at the barrier.

The hand holding his pendant started to glow a bright red.

He imagined himself a wolf, ravaging the barrier with his teeth.

More of his blood spilled onto the lynx. It glowed a brighter red.

In a last ditch attempt his imagined a huge fireball slamming into the barrier. It cracked.

His inner mind howled in triumph. He conjured another ball and slammed it with all his power into the barrier.

It shattered into a million pieces.

The red light erupted like a shining nova.

He yelled out in pain and collapsed to the floor as the door swung in, his head connecting loudly with the stone.

xXxXxXxXx

A literal world away Ginny Weasley screamed and dropped to the floor of her room in the Burrow, to impact the ground with a dull thud and a flash of red light.

XXxXxXxXx

A/n: Yes I know. I'm a horrible, evil person. Tell me so in the reviews! Tell me your favorite part, too. And story ideas are welcomed with open arms. :grins evilly: Don't you just love cliffhangers?


	5. The Truth Is Revealed Mostly

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Nothing I own.

A/n: Slightly confusing, with different POV's. But stick with it. Also, much thanks to the WONDERFUL Beth and (of course) Anne Walsh for helping me defeat the cursed writer's block. Here's Chapter 5, for your viewing pleasure.

xXxXxXxXx

Deep in his lair, a snake sat tapping his fingers against his chair.

"You have served me well. Is Potter gone?"

"Yes, my master." The kneeling figure answered, his head bowed and his face hidden by a curtain of pale-blonde hair.

"Excellent." Voldemort hissed. "With Potter and his wretched family of animals gone our plans will run much smoother indeed."

Lucius Malfoy stood with a small, grim smile. "And my reward, Master?"

The smirk on Voldemort's face disappeared. "You are too presumptuous, Lucius." He said, dangerously quiet. A muscle twitched in Malfoy's throat as he struggled not to swallow nervously. Lucius tensed his muscles unconsciously; when the yellow light hit the pain was worse than ever.

"My master, I am sorry." He gasped when the spell was lifted.

"Yes, you are." Voldemort answered with the smallest hint of morbid amusement. "Severus Snape has your potion, Lucius. But you would do well to remember I reward no one unless I so deem them deserving!"

"Yes, my master. Of course, my master." Lucius bowed low and hurried out the door, but the Dark Lord's hissing laughter followed him.

xXxXxXxXx

Ron Weasley, known to his Pride as Redwing, stared at his copy of Quidditch Through the Ages without really seeing it. Eventually he let his eyes drift closed.

_Weeks, _he thought angrily. _It's been weeks since they went missing and still bloody nothing!_

The day his life had broken apart had started out so normal. Clear, unclouded skies and a brisk, crisp wind. Perfect flying weather. Apparently the Pack thought so too. The eight of them had left Devon early in the morning, leaving Ron behind to play Quidditch with Ginny. Actually they had offered to take him with, but it had been so long since the Pack had spent time as a family that he had declined.

He had been walking towards the orchard with the remainder of the Pride, his broom slung over his shoulder, when he had felt his pendants go ice-cold. Fear had stilled his feet. He had heard Ginny's cry of anguish as her chilled as well, and could still recall with perfect clarity the looks of terror and horror on Luna and Neville's faces.

Ron shook his head and tried to wash away the memories with good ones. The Pride playing Quidditch, pulling pranks…

His thoughts began to lull him into a sense of calm. Until he was suddenly swamped with the memory of Ginny's white face when Harry had disappeared in the Maze. It was another time their pendants had gone cold and they couldn't fix it.

_Sort of like now_, he thought a tad drowsily as his pendants went cold. A beat, then _What!_

He pulled the bits of metal from beneath his shirt to see the lynx carving shining like a small nova.

_Ginny!_

Ron sprinted from his bed out the door, his feet pounding the steps. He had one thought on his mind: He had to get to Ginny.

He reached her landing just as she screamed. Her door was locked. He kicked it once, twice…It swung in just as a burst of bright red light sent him flying backwards. It was a shade of red not unlike when Harry activated a Gryffindor jewel. The last thing Ron saw before he passed out from hitting the wall was the ethereal form of a wolf standing over his sister.

xXxXxXxXx

Neville Longbottom wasn't awake to feel his pendants go cold. If he had been in a regular sleep then perhaps the change of temperature would have woken him, but not this kind of sleep.

He had fallen asleep and woken up in Hogwarts, next to the lake. Well, not the _real _Hogwarts, of course. Here the sounds were clearer, the colors brighter, and it was perpetually good weather.

_Or maybe _this _is the real Hogwarts, _he pondered as he pulled himself up and waited for the other. _And the one in the real world is just a copy of this one. _Eventually he shrugged. No matter, that was a philosophical debate for another time.

He shoved all philosophical real-Hogwarts thoughts to the back of his mind to catch the person who always met him here in his arms and kiss her swiftly.

Meghan broke the kiss to lean back trustingly in his arms and smile at him, her gray eyes twinkling.

"You made it!" She said happily.

He kissed her again. "Of course I did." He said when they broke apart. After another few minutes of such greetings they settled down in front of the lake, watching the sun glint off the water and enjoying each others presence.

"How is everyone holding up?" He asked finally.

Meghan sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder. "About as well as can be expected." She answered.

"That bad, huh?" They both laughed.

A throat cleared itself nearby. They turned to see an older man with black hair and green eyes in green robes smiling grimly at them.

"Alex!" Meghan exclaimed in surprise. Normally the Founders and their children left Neville and Meghan alone when they visited each other like this.

"Yes, sorry about this." Alexander Slytherin said apologetically, as if he had read their minds. Which he very well might have. "But you're needed rather urgently."

Both teens got the distinct impression it was a bit more dangerous than just "urgently". They stood up immediately and Salazar Slytherin's good son snapped his fingers, transporting them instantly into the Great Hall.

Around a large pane of opaque air stood nine other people: three in red, four in blue, two in yellow. Alex, in his lone green, made ten.

"What's going on?" Neville asked briskly, moving to stand next to the man in yellow. Adam Hufflepuff, normally smiling, was grim.

"Something we weren't expecting."

"Obviously," Meghan quipped. Brenna Ravenclaw, one of the four women in blue, reached over to flick her ear in chastisement.

"Ginny Weasley is being pulled through the worlds." Sophia Ravenclaw said solemnly, her hand on the patch of air. It showed a wolf and a lynx running across a vast black plain with a red light at one side and a blue one at the other. They were running towards the red.

"That's great!" Meghan said. She looked at the Founder's faces and the smile left hers. "That's not great?" She asked Margaret Ravenclaw.

Margaret waved her hand back to the air, indicating she should take another look. While the wolf was getting stronger as they approached the red light, the lynx was tiring - it's steps faltering - it's breaths coming in raggedly - whimpering with each step -

Meghan gasped and looked up right into the eyes of her many, _many _times great-grandmother, Rowena Ravenclaw, from whom she was descended and from who she had inherited her natural Healing.

"Your magic kept your family relatively unharmed as you passed between the worlds." The great woman informed her great-granddaughter. "Without it's aid, Ginevra will die."

Meghan went white beneath her dark complexion. "I have to get back!"

She closed her eyes and started to go back to her body when a rough arm grabbed her.

"Wait!"

She re-opened her eyes to see Maura Gryffindor looking at her anxiously. "Wait a moment Meghan."

Meghan opened her mouth to protest and shut it instantly at one look from Godric Gryffindor. His son, Paul Gryffindor, snickered until Maura kicked him. Paul glared at his sister.

Helga Hufflepuff stood and walked over to Neville. She placed a gently glowing hand to his forehead and he felt imbued with solidarity. Rowena Ravenclaw was next, placing her hand to his forehead and he felt his living body _shift_. Godric's touch imbued him with power. Alex's gave him the knowledge of what he had to say.

"I wish to return with Meghan." He said, ignoring her gasp of equal parts confusion and delight. "So I speak, so I intend."

"And so let it be done." The Founders chorused.

Helga Hufflepuff placed a kiss on her many-times great-grandson's forehead. "Go with strength, Neville."

He opened his eyes to the Gryffindor Common Room and Meghan curled up beside him. Meg regarded him solemnly for a minute with big gray eyes before leaning forward to kiss him once, quickly. "Much easier then what we went through."

They helped each other up just in time to hear a familiar scream. Their eyes locked.

**Get up there now! **Alex shouted in their minds.

They didn't question him. They dashed up the stairs to the sixth year boys dorm together.

xXxXxXxXx

"Stay right where you are!"

Reynard froze.

"Mr. Potter!" Shrilled Professor Flitwick, "Lower your wand at once!"

Reynard noticed Harry didn't even look at the diminutive professor.

"Professor, I have reason to believe that these two are under Glamours!" Harry told Flitwick.

Mentally, Reynard cursed; at length and in two different languages. He grabbed his twin's hand.

**Looks like the cat's out of the bag. **

**To use a horrible metaphor concerning cats…yes.** Neenie answered in kind. **Do you have an idea?**

**Just one. **He replied. **And I won't like doing it. **

Neenie searched his thoughts to see what he meant and winced openly. **I know. But considering the options…**

**I know. **

He was still fighting himself about doing it when his pendants went cold, dissolving his choices. Reynard lifted his eyes to lock with Harry's. Before the other boy could look away he _thrust _a powerful mental attack at Harry's barriers, helped by his twin.

It was powerful enough to make Harry stumble back and drop his wand. In that instant the twins were out the door and racing towards…where? Where was the danger?

**Gryffindor Tower! **A familiar voice said in their minds. They both stopped running in surprise.

**Alex? **Ray thought back at his only favorite Slytherin.

**Aren't you not allowed to directly interfere? **Neenie asked Alex.

**This is an exception! GO! **Alex's "voice" sounded exasperated.

They picked up the pace again, this time in the direction of Gryffindor Tower.

xXxXxXxXx

Wolf was running. He was running with his mate back to his new den and all was good. He tipped his head back and howled in triumph. The wildcat beside him did not answer. He looked back. Why was his mate walking like her foot was in a trap?

Wolf whined and licked her face, urging her forwards. She followed, her purr rumbling in her throat. It was so close he could practically smell the Pack through the bright light.

His mate hissed and lay down, whimpering. He pressed his nose against her, pushing at her. She licked his snout but did not get up.

Why would she not get up?

_New den bad? _He thought. _Old den better for mate? _

He started to go back but another part answered: _No, new den good. Pack at new den. _

"_Come_." He said in animal language, which was crude but workable and used mostly body language. "_New den_, _Pack_. _Come_."

She nodded and stood. With much urging and encouragement they pressed forward, into the red light. Wolf howled again and didn't realize her answering yowl was not one of victory.

xXxXxXxXx

Meghan was there the moment Ginny appeared in a burst of red light. The redhead was screaming and twitching, her nose was bleeding…

Meg hurried forward, feeling her Ravenclaw gift surge forward instinctively as she began to glow a steady blue. She place her hands on Ginny's head, cradling it, and began to Heal almost immediately.

Eventually her power began waning and dimming and Ginny still wasn't completely healed. Her glow began to fade. Neville rushed forward and placed a glowing hand on the back of her neck, steadying her even as he offered her his power.

The glow immediately brightened again as he added his own Hufflepuff power and Meghan began the slow but diligent work in convincing Ginny's body that it wasn't as hurt as all that…

xXxXxXxXx

Harry stared in shock at the place the twins had been standing, a hand placed to his forehead as if that could stop the headache within.

"Harry?" Hermione asked worriedly as Professor Flitwick turned his back to them and tried to get his class back into some semblance of order.

Harry ignored her and Ron and Neville, instead stomping over to his bag and ripping out the Marauder's Map.

_Those sodding pretending do-gooders! Trying to invade _my _mind! There are surely mistaken about _that_! I'll find out _exactly _where they're going and show _them _what I'm made of!_

He placed his wand to the old parchment.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good!" He hissed vehemently. The Map began to fill out immediately. His eyes searched for two figures moving faster than norm…There!

The map almost fell out of his hands.

_What the…_

The dots were labeled "Draco Black" and "Hermione Granger-Lupin". He tracked their progress up to Gryffindor Tower, where they met up with four dots labeled "Gertrude Granger-Lupin", "Remus Lupin", "Aletha Freeman-Black", and "Sirius Black".

The map began trembling. Harry refused to believe it was because his hands were shaking.

All six figures were heading up to the boys sixth year dorm, in which Harry could see four unmoving figures. "Meghan Black", "Neville Longbottom", "Ginny Weasley", and "Harry Potter".

The map fell from his hands entirely.

xXxXxXxXx

Harry Potter, also known as Wolf (and more recently, James) shuddered into wakefulness with a desperate, strangled cry.

He could hear familiar footsteps and smell familiar smells. Remus and Danger, Meghan and Neville, the twins, Letha and…Ginny? But all that barely registered. He hurt more than he had before and something very primal in his mind was telling him to panic and so he struggled harder, crying out louder…

Strong, familiar arms wrapped around him in a comforting embrace.

"Shh, Greeneyes. It's all right." A familiarly deep voice soothed. "It's all right."

Harry relaxed instantly and leaned back trustingly into the embrace to pillow his head against the man's shirt, like he was a small child again, scared from a nightmare.

Harry let his mind relax and he slipped slowly into sanity-restoring rest. The noises around him blurred and stretched like water running down a drain. It was almost like riding a Portkey, except he was holding onto Padfoot and Padfoot wouldn't let him fall.

xXxXxXxXx

_When I wake up I'm going to find whoever thought it was a grand idea to send a herd of erumpents to trample me. And then I'm going to slowly and happily break every bone in their body._

_And that's _before _I change forms and maul them. _

Ginny Weasley had had better days. This was not one of them.

"Wake up." That voice was familiar. Whose was it?

"Wake up, Ginny." _Um, no, thank you._

"I told you to wake up." _I'm very aware of what you told me. I'm just not listening. _

"Gin, wake up." _Not going to happen. _

"I won't tell you again." _Leave me alone, Meghan. _

Someone brushed their hand across her forehead. Considering the pounding headache she had it actually felt pretty good…until it didn't. Meghan's hand (she had finally connected face to voice) touched her temple and

BANG!

She remembered everything. She remembered the panic she and the rest of the Pride had felt when their pendants went cold. She remembered weeks filled with worry and angst. She remembered the pain as her pendants went white-hot against her chest. She remembered hitting the floor.

**This is all my fault. I'm so stupid. How could I have done that? _What did I do?_**

The presence filed her mind and her heart. With it came the sense of a fiery red and the warm, enveloping scents of cloves, cinnamon, and ginger. She knew it like she knew her own magic.

That, however, didn't sound like something Harry would say. But it was his voice and…it sounded like something Harry might _think_. She shot up with a strangled gasp and cracked her head against something hard, immediately laying her flat again.

There was a thump nearby. "OW!" Someone definitely not Meghan yelled. "Sodding hell, Ginny! The next time you're going to sit up dramatically check to make sure someone isn't there first!"

Ginny groaned and cracked an eye open. Sitting on the floor and frowning like a petulant child, his hand to his forehead, was Draco. And she'd never been so happy to see him, scar and witty temper and all.

"I think I just cracked my head open on your thick skull." She informed him bluntly.

"I think…you're right." He answered.

"No witty retort?" She remarked, her voice muffled as she turned and buried her face in the pillow. _Wait…_

_Pillow? The last thing I remember was falling onto the floor at home. And Draco most certainly wasn't there…_

"Where am I?"

"Hogwarts." Meghan said. Ginny felt a small, cool hand on her forehead and her aches and pains vanished almost instantly, including that twice-cursed headache.

"Oh. That's good. Why am I at Hogwarts?"

"That's a very good question." Meghan answered as she helped Ginny sit up. The redhead blinked at her surroundings. They were definitely in the Hogwarts Hospital Wing. And she would know.

"What's the last thing you remember, Ginny?" Hermione asked. Ginny blinked again. When had Neenie gotten there?

"My pendants heating up. Pain. Hitting the floor. And a good deal of bright red light."

"So, mostly a normal day?" Mr. Padfoot said and grinned as he swept aside the curtains surrounding her bed.

She nodded. "Mostly. Anybody want to inform me of what's going on or am I going to have to work it out on my own?"

"Would you rather you worked it out on your own?" Hermione asked instead of answering, planting herself on Ginny's bed.

"It's never been my strong suit, no. What does that have to do with my question?"

"I just think it'd be more believable if you worked it out for yourself." Hermione answered.

"Neenie," Draco said slowly, still rubbing his forehead. "This situation is about as believable as someone writing novel-length stories about the Pack."

"Pretty 'un' then."

Draco scowled and threw a pillow at Neenie, which she ducked and stuck out her tongue.

Mrs. Letha poked her head around her husband to see Ginny up. "Good, you're awake. Have they told you what's going on?"

"They were dancing around it." Ginny answered.

"We're in a parallel universe, Lynx. There are copies of us running around here but their lives haven't been the same. Simple translation: Same genetic makeup, but most of us are gits." Draco said. Ginny took a moment to absorb that before nodding.

"Well, _you're _a git in this universe." Neenie told her twin conversationally. "I rather like my counterpart."

When her back was turned Draco mimed two people raising their hands at the same time and he rolled his eyes. Ginny laughed.

"I saw that!" Hermione said testily, stalking over to smack Draco upside the head before she walked down the ward again.

"You're fine," Mrs. Letha declared a moment later. She had been standing behind Ginny's bed the whole time, doing diagnostic spells. "You can even walk around if you feel like it." She dropped her eyelid quickly in a subtle wink and made a hand gesture towards another bed hidden by curtains. Then she too walked down to the other end of the ward, taking Draco with her.

**Oh, we're dead. We're dead. We survived but we're dead!**

Ginny's heart leapt to her throat. **Quoting American Muggle movies, love?**

Ten seconds of full mental silence. You could have heard the metaphorical pin drop. Then, in a mind-voice decidedly small than normal:

**Ginny?**

**No, the other person who can talk in your mind. **

**Oh, Alex. I knew you'd stop by for a chat. Oh wait, you're just that girl I love. Never mind. **Harry's words were flippant; his emotions were anything but. He was practically flooding her with joy and amazement. **How is this possible?**

**A little fox told me I'm in an alternate universe. **

A sudden influx of guilt and sadness from his end. **I'm sorry. I dragged you into this mess. **

**Better to be dragged by you than dragged by Lord-He's-Ugly. **

**By dragging you into this, I practically _am _Voldemort. **

**We had a talk about you saying things like that. Do you remember it?**

She got the sudden impression of a wry smile. **Vividly. It involved quite a bit of yelling and you smacked me with a rolled up paper, repeatedly.**

**All the better to get my message across. Now where are you?**

She pushed the blanket off her legs and swung them around, leaping lightly off the bed. True to Mrs. Letha's word, she felt as close to fine as someone stranded in an alternate universe could be. Which was not very, but it was there. There was a swish of curtains and the bed next to her was revealed.

On it sat her very apologetic mate. His green eyes were pleasantly swirled with the same brown she saw in the mirror. They looked at each other for a very long moment, then he lifted his bandaged right hand and gave a little wave.

She closed the distance in an instant, bringing his face down to hers. They broke apart a little over a full minute later, and only because they had discovered humans needed oxygen to survive. Wrapped up in his arms with her face nuzzled against his shoulder, she honestly didn't care whether she was in an alternate universe or not.

"I suppose this is a case of 'Don't look a gift Hippogriff in the mouth', huh?" He asked softly after a moment.

She nodded, then lifted her head to kiss him again.

**I missed you. **She said across their new-found link, her mouth being currently occupied.

**I kind of got that impression, yes.**

They broke apart again and he grinned at her, resting his forehead against hers. "Missed you too, love."

From behind the curtain there was a crash of a breaking bowl, a splash of what sounded like water, and a very annoyed yowl. Harry parted the curtains with one hand to see Neenie in calico-form, dripping wet and Draco laughing hysterically. Madame Pomfrey looked apologetic.

Ginny pillowed her face against his chest and let herself laugh hysterically for a few moments.

"Happy to amuse you." Hermione said acidly when she was human and dry again. "But I think you have a lot of explaining to do."

Ginny looked at the people in front of her. The four adults: Remus, Danger, Sirius, and Letha, had found each other a year after that fateful Halloween. Remus and Danger had fallen in love and gotten married, and together with Sirius' lost love Aletha, they had set Sirius free. Then they had taken the two-year-old Harry and the same-age Hermione and had hidden from the world.

Sirius and Letha had gotten married and had Meghan. Their home had been invaded, they had been captured and brought to the home of Lucius Malfoy. Instead of him separating them Narcissa Malfoy had risen up against her husband and turned both her and him into the Aurors before poisoning herself.

Draco Malfoy had become the Boy-Who-Disappeared. He also became Draco Black, and was raised in a loving family as Harry Potter and Meghan Black's brother and Hermione Granger-Lupin's twin.

Ginny loved hearing that story. But right now was not the time for reminiscing, so she shook herself out of it.

"I suppose you're right. I do I have a lot of explaining to do. But so do you." She said.

"Yes," answered the quiet voice of Albus Dumbledore from the doorway. Everyone turned to look, even Ginny still in Harry's arms. "Unfortunately, you do."

Behind him were the absolutely livid forms of Harry and the rest of his friends.

Dumbledore's eyes weren't twinkling as he looked at them in a silent apology. "Yes, you do."

xXxXxXxXx

A/n: Dun dun DUN! The plot thickens at last...Well, I'm going to post this before I pass out. However, if you're reading this, I assume I've already done so. This chapter goes out to everyone who's visited the chatroom lately, 'cause that place rocks my socks.


	6. Explanations, Explanations, Explanations

Disclaimer: If I owned anything of it, would I be writing fanfiction about it? The answer is no.

A/n: Still a little confusing, with necessary transitions and explanations, not to mention fights. Which brings about the title of Chapter Six! Warning: Small amount of language. Mostly the word "bloody".

xXxXxXxXx

Ron Weasley put his head between his hands and tried not to scream like the hawk that was his Animagus form. There was a fluttering at his window and he lifted his head to see a white owl just landing there.

For a moment his heart leapt, because the owl reminded him of Hedwig. But it dropped again as he noticed this owl had different markings than Hedwig did. But he knew this owl's markings as well, almost better than Hedwig's…

"'Lo Starwing," he said dully. The owl looked at him with large, silvery gray eyes and shifted into Luna, who banged her heels against the wall beneath his windowsill.

"Hello Redwing." Luna said vaguely. "How are you?"

Ron eyed the blonde girl with both parts frustration and tolerance.

"Perfect," He snapped sarcastically, turning around so all she could see was his profile as he stared at the wall, "Absolutely dandy."

He spared a look at her out of the corner of his eye. She looked completely unaffected at his tone of voice. If anything, this angered him more until finally all the fear and anxiety snapped inside him.

"How can you be so effing calm?" He half-snarled at her, spinning around where he sat to glare. "Harry, Neenie, Meghan, DRACO" He had the satisfaction of seeing her flinch at the last name, "And now Neville and Ginny are GONE! HOW CAN YOU NOT EVEN CARE!"

Ron turned his head from her to the wall again.

There was a soft tap as she leapt lightly off the windowsill and pattered over to the side of his bed. Slowly he turned to look up at her and then had to physically stop himself from gulping.

With her standing and him sitting she was taller than him and he could see her hands clenching and unclenching. Her normally far-away eyes were focused solely on him and were narrowed into slits.

"Of _course _I care." She said angrily, almost hissing, "How could you _ever _accuse me of not caring? I just know and accept the fact that there's nothing I can do about it!" She cut herself off so suddenly that Ron was sure she was spacing out again. When he looked up he instead saw her silvery-gray eyes even sharper than usual, giving him the distinct impression she was looking through him. "It's okay to admit you're lonely, you know."

Ron flared red from his neck to his ears. "I'm not lonely." He said gruffly, crossing his arms.

"Now you're lonely and lying."

He whipped his neck around to glare at her and stopped. She was back to being her vague, not-all-there self, but a small smile danced around her mouth. He threw a pillow at her, the one with the phoenix Bill had sent last Christmas.

"Honestly Luna, I love you like a sister but…" He trailed off. Luna was no longer listening to him. It was actually hard to tell, as she never looked like she was listening to anyone, but eight years of knowing her had left its mark. He knew she wasn't listening. "Luna, what?"

She was holding his pillow, her fingers tracing the bright lines of the phoenix. Her eyes were even more out of focus than usual and had the look of someone trying to focus on reflections on a moving train window.

"Luna…" He shut up when she flapped a hand at him.

Suddenly her head jerked back and her eyes cleared back to their normal vagueness. "I know what to do." She said abruptly, throwing the pillow back.

He caught it without thinking. "You know what to do about what?" He asked, feeling mildly stupid.

"I know how to get to the Pride. Get dressed and leave a not for your Mum. I'll be right back." And with that a snowy owl took and place and flapped out the window.

Ron was still two steps behind, mentally. One sentence she had said, however, rang in his mind.

"_I know how to get to the Pride."_

Love her as he might, Luna was generally weird. But…she was also very right sometimes. His body was moving very quickly after that. He grabbed a jacket and stuffed his feet into shoes. He was just leaving a note for his Mum (_Gone to find the Pride. Don't worry._) when Starwing swooped back in and changed into Luna.

"We'll probably need money too." She added, placing her own bag inside her jacket. Ron blew on the ink to dry it and nodded, tucking his money-bag into an inside pocket.

"Where are we going?" He asked finally.

"Hogwarts." She answered. He looked at her, confused.

"Are we Flooing?"

"No, we're flying."

"Flying!" He yelped. "We don't even know the way!"

"I do." She replied serenely.

"Well, fine. But do you know how _far _Hogwarts is?" Then he stopped as her body language sank in. "Were you taking the mickey out of me?"

She nodded, eyes dancing. He sighed and rolled his eyes, following her downstairs. His Mom was out shopping (she didn't know about Ginny, even) so no worries about getting caught. He contemplated what Luna had said before.

"_Now you're lonely and lying." _

Why had he been so adamant he wasn't lonely?

_Because you are. _A little voice in the back of his mind whispered. It sounded remarkably like Hermione.

He thought about denying it again but didn't. Because…well, because it was sort of true. He hated admitting it, but it was true. Since he was eight and, more specifically, twelve, he had never gone this long without his Pride.

He missed them. He missed the camaraderie, he missed Den-nights, he missed the closeness that put him on his feet again when the world set him on his side.

For a week after their disappearance (and both Dumbledore and the Founders refusing to say anything other than they were all right) he had managed to convince himself that he could do without them for a little while.

It was only after they had been gone for a week that Ron realized he was listening for their voices, and wondering if they were truly as okay as the Founders say. It was harder to figure things out without Neenie, harder to get a good round of training without Harry, harder to find a good bickering partner without Draco, and Ginny wasn't nearly as good at weaseling his problems out of him as Meghan was.

"Ron?" Luna's voice broke through his thoughts. "Floo powder?"

"Vase on the mantel."

She grabbed a pinch and threw it into the fire.

"Hogwarts Kitchens!" She shouted. He followed.

xXxXxXxXx

Albus Dumbledore sensed a presence in his office without even looking up from his desk.

"Hello Maura." He said.

Maura Gryffindor smiled a little as she took a seat in front of him.

"Hello Albus. Getting wise in your old age, I see." She replied.

"If only to make up for my eccentricities, my dear." Dumbledore answered, eyes twinkling. Fawkes trilled quietly as Maura skillfully hid a grin.

"Ah, yes." Maura continued. "There is more to this visit. It would be beneficial to all parties for you to ask Fawkes to transport two particular birds that will be flying over the Forbidden Forest in a few moments to the place they need to be right now."

"Can you tell me why this is so?" He asked.

"I can not." She replied.

"Can not or should not?"

"Can not."

"Very well." Dumbledore said. He turned to Fawkes. "If you must go, go cautiously old friend. I would miss your companionship greatly."

Fawkes trilled and spread his wings, flying towards the forest. Maura blinked and then turned to Dumbledore.

"Two children have just entered through the kitchens."

"Oh?" A bushy eyebrow rose. "Can I assume they would be two of the four children that refused to come back September 1st without their friends?"

"You may so assume." Maura answered.

"But you can not tell me. Very well, it was a pleasure talking to you, Maura."

"And you, Albus." She nodded to him and when he blinked she was gone. He sighed.

This was one of those times he would have to let events fall as they would and then try his hardest to set things right when they were done. He had to accept the fact that Harry Potter and his family were getting home on their own and do what little he could to ease their way.

xXxXxXxXx

Almost before they were out of the fire, Luna was running. Ron didn't question her, he just followed. They hit the marble stair that led down to the ground and Luna shifted into Starwing, immediately flying towards the Forbidden Forest. Ron shifted into the red hawk Redwing and followed.

As they flew over the actual forest Fawkes came down over them, touched both with a wingtip, and al three disappeared in a flash of fire.

xXxXxXxXx

Harry was standing behind Dumbledore, staring at the "visitors", absolutely livid. Before he could shout or pull his wand a flash of fire erupted in the room. Fawkes appeared inside it and dropped to birds into the middle of the floor before disappearing again.

The two birds were a hawk and an owl, and booth were obviously in distress. They were hooting and screeching (respectively) and flapping their wings without success.

Jane gasped and ran forwards, scooping up the hawk as Harry would never touch a predator bird. It stopped shrieking and blinked a her a moment before pillowing it's head against her chest and crying in a way that sounded a way that sounded almost affectionate. Gray was giving and receiving the same treatment from the owl.

Something inside Harry snapped. "THAT IS BLOODY IT!" He roared. "EVER SINCE YOU CAME HERE IT'S BEEN STRANGE THING AFTER STRANGE BLOODY THING! YOU FELL OUT OF THE BLOODY SKY! YOU KNOW MARAUDER HAND SIGNALS! YOU DISAPPEAR WITHOUT WARNING! YOUR EYES CHANGE INTO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT COLORS! YOU WON'T TELL ANYONE WHERE YOU'RE FROM! WHO THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU! COME BLASTING IN AND YOU DON'T EVEN LET US KNOW WHO THE HELL YOU ARE? YOU THINK WE'RE STUPID, NOT KNOWING SOMETHING IS DODGY ABOUT YOU LOT!" He pointed to Reynard. "YOU! I JUST DON'T LIKE YOU! I DON'T CARE WHO YOU SAY YOU ARE, YOU ARE A BLOODY GIT! YOU HAVEN'T ACTED LIKE IT BUT I _KNOW _YOU ARE!" He pointed to James. "AND YOU! YOU BLOODY ANNOY ME! I _KNOW _YOU'RE UNDER A GLAMOUR!" He spun around to face Jane. "YOU! WHY ARE YOU WET!"

Jane looked down at herself and cursed very softly under her breath. One of the adults rolled their eyes and dried her with a wave of their wand. Harry turned to the adults, more specifically John and Patrick. "AND WHY DO THE TWO OF YOU SEEM SO BLOOD FAMILIAR WHEN I'VE NEVER MET YOU BEFORE!"

Harry turned to Meghan. "AND YOU! WHAT ARE YOU DOING ALL WRAPPED UP WITH NEVILLE!" He had the satisfaction of seeing them both blush a little. He couldn't ponder, however, why Neville looked different. He shrugged it off and continued on.

"AND **SPEAKING OF THAT!**" He rounded back on James, who had a certain redhead practically on top of him. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"

James looked down at Ginny in his arms, and then back up at Harry. "Well, you see. There's a very good explanation for all of this."

Ginny looked surprised. "There is?"

"Yes. I'll tell you as soon as I think of it."

Harry could never remember being so mad in his life. He had known these people were dodgy and now here was the proof, but with it he had found Ginny - his Ginny - wrapped up in the arms of the enemy. He didn't even stop to think where the "his Ginny" part came from, he just went with it.

"Ginny, he's a liar, he's even fooled the Map, get away from him!"

Ginny lifted an eyebrow. "Make me."

"Are you quite finished yelling now?" Jane asked acidly, taking her hand away from where she had obviously been protecting the hawk's ears.

"NO I'M NOT DONE BLOODY YELLING!" He answered just to see the satisfaction of her wince. The hawk cried out in pain.

"You stupid, inconsiderate little -" What Jane thought was little about Harry was cut off as Mrs. Gray put her hand on Jane's arm and shook her head. Jane quieted, but did so very reluctantly.

"Harry," Something in Dumbledore's voice made Harry look at him right away. "You will stop this at once."

"But Headmaster -"

"Harry." Dumbledore repeated. He didn't have to say it again; Harry quieted as well.

Ron, however, was not done. "Ginny, get away from him now."

"I reiterate: _make me_."

Ron resembled a goldfish for a full minute, then his face hardened and he shrugged. "Fine." He stalked over and gripped Ginny's arm, tugging her away.

The hawk screeched angrily, which morphed into "Oy! Get your hands off my sister!"

Ron spun around. "She's _my _sister…" And nearly fainted. He was face to face with…himself.

"Heh." Mr. Black said finally. "This is awkward."

Mrs. Black sent a glare at her husband. "I think maybe we should just all sit down." When no one looked at her she sighed and went over to Ron, pushing him lightly so that he sat on one of the beds. "I _really _think you should sit down."

"And _you_," Jane glared at the other Ron - let's call him Weasley, "Are an idiot."

James scoffed. "What else is new?"

Weasley glared at James, then went to go sit on the opposite side of the room.

Harry wasn't through being mad at the world in general. He directed his scathing gaze at Reynard. "Is that a person too?" He indicated the owl.

"Yes, actually," Gray replied calmly. "But I don't think she should change back just now."

"Seconded." Meghan said, nodding to the owl.

"Would anyone care to explain this to us?" Harry asked testily, indicated the confused Hermione and Ron, who was still in a state of shock. Mrs. Gray sat down on one of the beds with a hard thump.

"For this, I think Aletha is right. Take a seat, everyone, because we have a lot of explaining to do." She looked at her husband, "Do you want to take this, love?"

For a moment Mr. Gray's eyes swirled with more brown, and when they returned to normal his wife glared at him and smacked his arm.

"Question number one," Harry began, "What was that? That thing with your eyes."

Mr. Gray looked Harry straight in the eye and his eyes swirled again. "That thing?" He asked. Harry nodded. "My wife and I have a mental connection. Our eyes changing color is simply an indication that we're talking like that."

"Can they talk like that?" Harry asked, indicating the twins.

"Yes, but that's part of long story."

Harry may be quick to fly off the handle, and he was certainly suspicious, but these people were acting well-spoken and polite, and seemed willing to answer any and all questions truthfully. "Who are you?"

"_That _is a longer story." Mr. Gray said with a slight twinkle that reminded Harry of Dumbledore. "And perhaps one that should be told with everyone present." When Harry began to glare at him he sighed, "Fine. You can relay the story later. Love?" He looked at Mrs. Gray.

"Have you three ever heard of parallel universes? Where other people just like you live, their lives greatly or slightly different?"

"That's just a theory." Hermione interrupted weakly.

"It's not, Ms. Granger," Dumbledore replied. "And the proof is standing right in front of you. But I agree with John, we should have three other parties present. Dobby?" The small house-elf appeared with a pop. "Would you tell Remus Lupin, Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood, and Neville Longbottom to come to the Hospital Wing at once?" Dobby nodded and vanished.

"But Ginny and Neville are right there!" Harry said in confusion. Dumbledore looked at him; the twinkle was back.

"No. They are not."

Harry sat down. "Oh," he said smartly.

xXxXxXxXx

Thirty minutes later everyone in the Hospital Wing that hadn't fallen out of the sky, been sent by supposedly dead Founders, flown in by a phoenix, or lived to be 150 years old were quietly shocked.

"So you're from an alternate universe? And you're here because Voldemort attacked?" Ron asked finally, in the tone of trying to sort everything out in his mind.

"The eight of them are here because of Voldemort." The Ginny from the other universe, whom they had been instructed to call Lynx, corrected. "Redwing, Starwing, Shade and I came to help."

Redwing was the other Ron. Shade was the other Neville. And Starwing seemed to be the owl.

"Questions, comments, snide remarks?" Wolf asked with a grin.

Wolf had turned out to be James Black. Jane Gray was now called Neenie. Reynard Gray was called Fox, and Meghan was still Meghan but was most often referred to as Pearl.

"You say you've lived in this…Pack…for your whole lives? How is that, when you said not all of you are related by blood?"

"Quick and short version," Mr. Gray began, "I fell in love with Danger," He indicated Mrs. Gray, "And we got married. Neenie is not our daughter, she is Danger's younger sister twenty years apart. Together with the help of Aletha," He pointed to Mrs. Black, "We helped Patrick out of a difficult situation." He shoved Mr. Black lightly as the latter snorted.

"We kidnapped Wolf from horrid relatives," Danger continued, "Took Neenie, and went into hiding because Patrick was supposedly a criminal. When those two were three a horrible man broke into our home and kidnapped us. His wife rebelled against him, turned them both into the authorities, poisoned herself, and gave us Fox to raise."

"And we've been a happy family ever since." Patrick said with a wry grin.

"You're not who you say you are." Every eye turned to Hermione, "You're wearing Glamours. We think we know who you are, but it'd be nice to see."

Harry wasn't about to admit that he had no idea what she was talking about. The Map and what it had showed had happened three days ago, and he was sure the Map had just been mistaken.

Dumbledore seemed to have a conversation with Mr. Gray that involved a lot a nodding or shaking of the head. Then he turned to Jane, grinning.

"Quite like your counter-part, aren't you Miss Granger-Lupin?"

Remus and Hermione both seemed to choke on air at the same time.

"Granger?" Hermione asked after a moment.

"LUPIN?" Remus finished.

"Put it all together, it's Granger-Lupin!" Fox quipped, to be cuffed by at least three people.

Jane pulled her wand and flicked a few spells, murmuring. In the end it revealed Hermione standing there.

"My name is Hermione Granger-Lupin." She said. "But you can call me Neenie, I suppose. Danger is my sister, Remus is my father, and Fox is my twin." She gave all of them a look that dared them to challenge her on any of the points. They didn't.

Everyone turned to look at Fox. He noticed.

"Do I have to?" He asked, just short of whining. Mr. Gray caught his eye and nodded. Fox sighed and removed his Glamour.

There was an uproar. Both Ron and Harry leapt from their seats. The Pack (the four adults and Wolf, Fox, Neenie, and Meghan) and the Pride (Wolf, Fox, Neenie, Meghan, Shade, Lynx, Starwing, and Redwing) followed suit.

Harry Potter could tolerate a lot of things. Draco Malfoy sitting casually in a chair not two feet away was not one of them.

"Malfoy!" Harry snarled, "I knew there was something I didn't like about you!"

"My name isn't Malfoy!" Malfoy argued, to be echoed by at least two other people.

"Then what is it?" Ron growled.

"Black. My name is Draco Black. I haven't been a Malfoy since I was four years old and I'm not going to start being one now!"

"How are you even twins with Neenie?" Hermione asked. She was equally mad, but more able to hide it.

Black turned to look at her. "When we were in third year my birth father got the crazy idea that the Pack-parents," That was their word for the four adults, "Had blood-bonded me with Neenie, taken my magic, and given it to her."

"Completely insane, you see." Neenie added seamlessly.

"Completely." Black agreed. "So he captured us and blood-bonded us. It's where we got these scars." He pointed to the scar under his left eye that ran vertically across his cheekbone. "So we really are twins. Blood and everything."

The revelations went quickly after that. The white owl Starwing turned out to be Luna. Mrs. Gray (who was actually Mrs. Granger-Lupin and instructed them to call her Danger) looked like an older version of Hermione. Mr. Gray turned out to be Remus Lupin (he told them to call him Moony) and the regular Remus couldn't move for about a minute.

Then finally there were two left. When they were revealed they instigated two very different reactions out of him.

When Mr. Black turned out to be Sirius, Harry felt tears prick his eyes. He had to look down for a moment, both to avoid curious stares from the otherworlders and to hide the fact from his friends. Once he got himself under control, he lifted his head to come eye to eye with himself.

Harry acted on instinct: He went for his wand and snapped it up to point at Wolf, who was the exact copy of himself.

xXxXxXxXx

Wolf dove his hand into his pocket and gripped his wand when Lynx pierced him with a stare. He froze. Wolf had thought to himself on any number of occasions that Sangre had been entirely unnecessary in the whole Chamber of Secrets business; Ginny's Look could rival the sixty-foot-long basilisk's normally, but when combined with the hands on the hips…He let go of his wand and lifted his hands up slightly.

"Um…we come in peace?"

All of the Muggle-influenced people in the group either laughed or gave him barely tolerant glances, depending on mood and interest.

Redwing gave a shake of his head, "Next thing you know he'll be spouting Star Wars references."

Neenie gave him a look. "Honestly, we never should have shown you those movies! And your one to talk? Remember Scar Wars: Return of the Aurors?"

"Yes. I also remember what you guys did to me for writing it."

"And completely innocent casting on your part." Neenie replied with just a touch of sarcasm.

"Personally I think you look great in a metal bikini."

"You would."

Both Ron and Hermione, following the conversation with interest if not much comprehension, blushed red and determinedly did not look at each other.

"Now, if you children would excuse us and perhaps return to your illusion long enough to get back to your suite?" Dumbledore asked of the eight otherworld children.

"No need, Professor, if we're going back to the suite." Shade (otherworld Neville) said, "I can do something that will make us invisible. We'll just walk there."

Dumbledore nodded approvingly at the Pride and Harry and his friends, "Very good. Please go, if you would."

Shade began whispering something, his concentration completely in it. Harry felt something very tiny shift and then Shade looked up again, "No one will notice any one of us now until you guys get back to the Tower and we" he indicated the Pride "get back to the suite."

Sirius leaned over to ruffle Wolf's hair, at which the boy growled good-naturedly and gave him a shove, then a quick hug before they left. Something in Harry strained to break free.

They walked outside and a little ways down the corridor. It was just before they were about to break paths that it happened. Wolf laughed at something and that thing inside Harry snapped.

It wasn't FAIR! How come this otherworld Harry, this Wolf, got everything? He had great friends that seemed closer to each other than anyone had every met, he had a wonderfully loving family, he and Ginny were in love, he had siblings and parents, and he had SIRIUS!

That was the nub of the matter. Harry lunged forward, arm flailing, catching Wolf completely off guard.

Harry's fist connected with Wolf's nose and there was a sound of crushing cartilage as he broke it. Despite a streaming bloody nose Wolf growled like his Animagus form and tackled Harry to the ground, slamming him against the stone and punching him soundly in the jaw. The fight got very ugly, very quickly.

"Stop it!" Lynx (otherworld Ginny) roared. Both of them halted for a moment, Wolf's hand fisted around Harry's shirt. They looked at her, then went back to fighting. Hissing in frustration the redhead grabbed up her wand and pointed it at them "Immobilis!"

This time when the brawling figures stopped, they stayed stopped. Redwing and Ron grabbed Wolf and Harry, respectively, and dragged them apart. Harry ripped out of Ron's grip instantly and stormed all the way back to the Hospital Wing. He slammed the door when walking into it loud enough for all the adults to stare.

"I don't want to talk about it," he snarled, and went to Madam Pomfrey to get cleaned up.

xXxXxXxXx

"What did I do?" Wolf asked Ron and others as Meghan fixed him up. They shrugged and said goodbye, heading towards Gryffindor Tower.

Lynx came up and put her arm around Wolf. He grinned wryly at her.

"Well, that could have gone better."

xXxXxXxXx

A/n: Ah, Wolf. The master of understatements. Alright everyone, hold on tight, because next chapter makes up for some boring parts in this one with Action! in next Update's episode: "Can This Get Any Worse?"


	7. Separation

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

A/n: Okay, so I lied about the title in the last chapter smiles sheepishly. P.S. The rating has been upped, mostly for kidnapping and some mild dark themes. But I didn't lie about the action which starts RIGHT AWAY!

xXxXxXxXx

Voldemort snarled.

"You told me they were dead!" He hissed at the pale-blonde man in front of him.

"My lord, I didn't! I said they were taken care of, but they should be dead! I don't know why they're alive!"

"Don't contradict me, fool!" Voldemort made a slashing motion with his wand and Malfoy fell to the ground, screaming.

Not bothering to remove the curse he stood off his throne and stalked to the other side of the chamber. On the wall hung a polished mirror whose frame was made up of twisting snakes.

He needed the Potter and his family that came originally from this world _dead! _He needed them dead NOW! And so he needed to set a trap. But what would lure Potter, and therefore his family after him, to where he needed them to be?

The answer came in a moment. Voldemort lifted his wand and shot a sickly orange curse into the mirror; moments later a likeness of him that was not his reflection showed up, red-slit eyes flickering maliciously.

xXxXxXxXx

They caught her from behind.

She didn't even have time to think before someone grabbed her arms and knocked her roughly to the floor. Instinctively she began to shift into her lynx form, but _someone _hit her with _something _in the back of her head. It was pain beyond anything except the Cruciatus.

She collapsed instantly.

xXxXxXxXx

The first thing she noticed when she woke was pain. Pain in her head, her arms, her stomach. She was lying on something cold; it might have been stone, it might not, but it was rough and digging into her skin. And she was starving.

How long had she been out? Hours? Days?

A door opened somewhere. She tried to lift her head but gave it up as a fruitless task until someone pushed a tray in front of her. She ate without thinking.

_I need to get out of here. I need…I need…_

One word came from behind the closed door. "_Drugged_."

xXxXxXxXx

The Pride was lounging around their suite near the kitchens, shed of their Glamours for the moment, sharing a tense atmosphere with Harry and his friends. Wolf walked in from a fun two hours running around the Forbidden Forest and happily threw himself onto a couch.

Lynx had said she was going to come join him, but she had never come. Concerned at the time, he had checked their new-found connection. It had been blurred and hard to reach through and while that had worried him he knew his pendants would act up if something had happened. The blurriness was probably because it was new and she was probably asleep. Against instincts but knowing Redwing would never let anything happen, he had shrugged it off.

Wolf had decided to take the better part of valor and acted as if Harry hadn't even hit him yesterday. And, of course, it helped that the fact that Wolf didn't even acknowledge it made Harry angrier.

"Hey Redwing," Wolf called finally, when the hushed conversations among the groups became too much, "Where'd Lynx disappear to?"

The redhead looked up, suddenly tense. "She said she was coming to meet you," Redwing said slowly.

_That _brought Wolf up fast.

"Are you alright?" Hermione asked suddenly, drawing everyone's eyes to the now completely white Wolf.

"No," he said tensely, answering Hermione and saying the word to Redwing at the same time. "No, she never came."

"But our pendants," Neenie protested. "They'd tell us if something was wrong or if something had happened."

"Not if someone attacked her," Shade said darkly. "Not if someone attacked her from behind."

All eyes of the Pride turned to Meghan, who had gone pale beneath her dark complexion. Everyone in the Pride remembered when she was ten and Peter Pettigrew had knocked her out from behind. If Neenie hadn't been there at the time that she had…It was something they normally didn't think about.

Wolf lurched to his feet.

**Ginny! Lynx!**

Nothing. There was nothing. Where he expected her familiar presence was blocked. It wasn't the blurriness anymore, just blocked.

Wolf let out a strangled cry and bolted out the door, completely forgetting to put on his Glamour. The minute he burst into Dumbledore's office, every eye turned him. Especially his Pack-parents: Moony, Danger, Padfoot, and Letha. Their pendants were outside their shirts and the wolf cub was shining.

Wolf hadn't even noticed that his pendants were hot until that moment. They were flaming hot and ice cold at the same time.

"She's gone! Lynx is gone. We think she's been taken!"

Dumbledore was on his feet and out the door before Wolf had even stopped talking, his face deadly serious. Wolf looked at his Pack-parents with pleading eyes, but the looks on their faces told him all he needed to know, even as Padfoot rushed out to follow Dumbledore, his wand already in his hand.

The flame of certainty in Wolf's chest that his Pack-parents could fix everything – naïve and childish as it was for him to keep nurturing it - flickered and diminished until it was nearly gone. He turned away from them and played with the flames of a candle on the wall. It flickered around his fingers, providing warmth and comfort.

Letha came over and put a hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry Greeneyes. We'll find her. We'll find her and she'll be fine."

Standing as he was, with his back to her, he didn't see her look away from the back of his head and mouth "_Please God, don't make me a liar_".

xXxXxXxXx

The next time Lynx woke she was much more coherent; and much, much angrier with herself.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" She hissed at herself, punching the stone underneath her with each word. It was stone now; she was awake enough to tell. And maybe it made her hands hurt but it sure felt good to hit something.

She took a few deep breaths and then began her leisurely, calming change into her lynx form.

Nothing.

She tried again. Nothing. Now panicking, she tried a third time.

She was still human.

Lynx let out the human equivalent of a caterwaul. What was going on? Why couldn't she change?

Her mind recalled the story Wolf had told once, about how he escaped the Shrieking Shack. She used his technique now.

"Think Ginny, think. You're good at that. You have brains in your head so use them." Maybe it sounded like she was going insane, but talking to empty air made her feel better.

_Alright Lynx, start with the room: What's in the room?_

She looked around. _Not much. _

There was really nothing. A cot lay to her right, though she was on the floor – _And they couldn't have put me there because…?_ – and a solid-looking door was across from that. Otherwise it was bare. It could have been any dungeon-like, cold room in any place in the world.

_So where was I last? _

She rubbed her temples as if to coax her mind into remembering the answer. _In Hogwarts. _Doing what? _Walking. _And then what? _People kidnapped you. _

If the situation had been less dire, Lynx would have found it much more ironic that her inner voice was sarcastic.

She tried to shift into lynx form again and found the ability still beyond her reach. She groaned because now her drugged mind could dredge up memories of her father talking about a potion that halted Animagus transformation.

_Well, if I make it out of here alive I'll be sure to inform Dumbledore it's been invented here too. Maybe I can just tell Harry…_

Lynx's head snapped up so fast she might have hurt something in her neck.

_Harry! Why didn't I think of him before? And with this handy new connection…_

**Harry! Wolf!**

Just like with her Animagus transformation, there was nothing. She searched for him in her mind, but instead of comfort and warmth and familiarity she found a block. It was akin to running smack into a solid brick wall, complete with the sense of shock.

She couldn't talk to Wolf. Something was numbing her mind, and she had a good guess it was probably a drug of some kind.

Wolf had described how he had broken the wall in her mind even from across the worlds. So she tried; but she was too weak to break them. Her mind was still a little sluggish and her body was still drugged. She'd have to flush the drug out before she tried it again. Again, this was if she made it out alive.

Lynx groaned and dragged herself up onto the cot, even though her limbs felt like someone had replaced her bones with lead. _If making it out _**alive **_is the best option I have, I'm in a pretty poor situation. _

At just that moment another Death Eater came in and, upon seeing her awake, merely dropped the tray of food on the ground without any sort of care and walked out. He/she/it might have been sneering, but it was hard to tell beneath that mask. She did, however, recognize the very long pale-blonde hair that came from beneath it before he closed the door.

She snarled but didn't move. _Lucius Malfoy: for what you did and are going to do to my Pack, my Pride, and our new counterpart friends…you better hope I never get my claws into you. _

Then again, at the moment, she couldn't get her claws into _anything_. The visual was good, though. She reached for the food and stopped.

_Drugged. Right. The drug that stops my transformation and blocks me from Wolf is probably in my food. Or water. _

Ginny sighed. How long could a human being go without food or water?

xXxXxXxXx

It was two days before she felt the full absence of the food and water. Her mind was clearer, but she was losing weight at a pace much too rapid to be healthy. And that night she woke up gasping, her stomach cramping painfully until she curled into a ball with the pain.

She needed food and water, and she was getting so _sick._

That was her last coherent thought.

xXxXxXxXx

There was a battle going on somewhere. She could hear it but she was too numb to care. Someone opened her door. He had on a Death Eater mask and he was pulling at her arms and tugging at her. Hissing at her.

"Come _on_ otherworlder, move!"

And then he – for some reason she just thought it was a he – was dragging her and tossing her outside. It was cold, really cold, but she was outside. Her body registered that before her mind did and she found a hidden reserve of strength. She did the only thing she could and bolted.

When she was far enough away that she couldn't hear the sounds of fighting anymore she collapsed. She needed water, but there was plenty around. When she couldn't take in any more she lay against the ground.

_I'll just rest a bit. _Her groggy mind said.

She didn't even notice that, even though it was still freezing, she had stopped shivering.

xXxXxXxXx

Wolf felt the moment Lynx's mind shifted and he knew something was terribly wrong. It had been days since she disappeared and now he knew what it must have felt like when the Pack had first been pushed into the otherworld. Her mind was not closed off anymore but it was slipping away like…like what?

She wasn't falling asleep. Well, she was, but something told him it was a bad kind of sleep…

He jumped up and sobbed. Moony came over and put his hands on his shoulders but Wolf shoved him away.

"Something's wrong with her," he said hoarsely. "Something really bad."

Moony went to go steady him again but Wolf shook his head and transformed into his wolf form. He curled up in a small ball and put his snout under his tail, whining.

He closed his mind and pictured her inside his eyes. He pictured her hair and her eyes and her laugh, but mostly he pulled the memory of her magic: the warm, soft shade of red, the scent of flowers. He willed himself to her.

And then suddenly he was very cold. There was fighting way up what looked like a mountain, and he was lying in snow. Something instinctual told him changing back to human would draw attention, so he didn't.

There was an unmoving figure lying feet from him. She had red hair.

xXxXxXxXx

Lynx woke up abruptly, coughing and clinging to the animal next to her. When it was over and she was dragging in breath the animal moved closer, giving her its warmth. The black wolf lifted its head and gave her a loving lick, its green eyes looking at her worriedly.

"Wolf?" her voice croaked, the warmth in the word giving it more meaning than just naming the animal.

Wolf nodded.

"Why don't you change back?"

Wolf turned his head towards the lights of the battle.

**I can't. **He said in her mind and she had to keep from jumping with joy as the connection burst open again, pushing past the block. **If I change back before we've reached somewhere safe the magic from my transformation will probably tell them where we are. **

She nodded and knew she should get moving, but she didn't get up. She went to lie back down. A cold nose at the side of her neck made her jump.

**No, don't lie down! **Wolf's voice sounded so urgent she focused on him. **If you lie back down you'll go to sleep, you'll freeze to death. Please, you have to get up. **

She grabbed his fur and pulled herself up, following him.

**I can't change. **She said in answer to his questioning look. **They gave me a potion. It won't wear off for…I don't know. **Her sense of time was skewed. Wolf nodded.

The walk was long and Lynx would have liked to stop and rest many times, but Wolf wouldn't let her. He didn't say anything, but Lynx knew he feared she wouldn't wake. When she strayed he nudged her, bumping her legs.

It was a long walk, but he wouldn't let her stop walking.

xXxXxXxXx

Harry had never seen anyone as distressed as the Pride was right then. They were all huddled together in the kitchens, a place that was apparently as familiar as it was comforting. Neenie had changed into her cat form and was curled up on Redwing's lap as he stroked her fur. Shade and Meghan were sitting back to back, their finger entwined. Fox had his head in Starwing's lap. No of them had said anything for hours.

Characteristically, Meghan broke the silence. "Mama Letha always said Wolf was too much like his Dad, James. She said, in love they were always incomparable. _Incomparably brave_ and _incomparably stupid_."

Most chuckled a little, but their hearts weren't in it.

Starwing stood up suddenly and went to a spot on the wall near the fire. "Thank you Godric." A hole opened up and she turned to look at everyone. The rest of the Pride followed her without question, followed (hesitantly) by Harry and his friends as soon as it was indicated they could come too.

They wound up in another kitchen.

"Where are we?" Hermione asked, "I've never read about this place."

"The Hogwarts Den," Shade said when they entered what looked like a main room, with banners over doors. "Comfortable sleeping place, please, and sleeping bags for our guests."

"Who are you –?" Neville began to ask, before the room morphed under their feet. The ground was solid but comfortable, and six sleeping bags were piled.

Everyone disappeared into a room for a moment, before coming out again. Shade had seemed to sneak upstairs and gotten their pajamas, because that was what he came back in carrying. A set for all of them, followed by Meghan who had the girl's. Redwing and the others appeared with sets of blue, red, and green blankets, which they also dumped on the floor.

Everyone changed, and then the Pride, with the blankets they had, built…well it was something like a nest or a den. Harry and the others spread their sleeping bags nearby and climbed in. The Pride climbed into the blankets, curling around each other like a litter of puppies might.

"Why are we here?" Ginny asked quietly after a moment, as if afraid she was disturbing something.

"When we were little," Neenie began, "Wolf had just been brought from his relatives, and Padfoot from jail, and they had nightmares. Sleeping together like this chased them away. Then we did it on full moons, when Danger's latent magic tamed Moony's werewolf, turning him into a human-minded, sane, regular wolf for the night."

"Then on special days like Halloween, or April 14." Fox added. "We're doing it now because we're upset and need the comfort. We offered you the chance to come because we want you to know we trust you, and we hope the reverse is true."

Everyone was quiet after that, but few people had fallen asleep. Harry stayed looking at the ceiling the entire time, thinking over how he had acted. His face heated up. He had acted like a right prat to people who didn't even want to be here. He had no right to treat them like that.

"I'm sorry," he said, as quietly as everyone else. And he let it mean all it should have.

Everyone began to fall asleep after that, but he got the distinct feeling that not only did the Pride know what he meant, but they understood and accepted. It was a comforting feeling and he fell asleep to it, and to the sounds of the other's breathing matching his.

xXxXxXxXx

Lynx wasn't sure, but she must have been walking for hours. Her shoes were scant protection against the snow and she was shaking and cold, but Wolf kept her moving. The sun was over the horizon when her world suddenly went black.

She woke to Wolf whining and nuzzling at her.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed out. "I can't."

He ran around in desperate circles, barking every so often to encourage her.

**Please Lynx, **he pleaded with her, **please get up. I know you're sick and I know you're tired but you can't just give up. Please! I won't let you give up. **

Lynx wanted to listen but her abused body had had enough. She closed her eyes.

xXxXxXxXx

She was on the ground, sick, cold, lost, and frightened. Wolf was frightened too, she could feel it. Why was only Wolf there? Why hadn't the rest of the Pride come? She began to cry. Wolf licked her face, her fever making her sweat and shiver uncontrollably.

Her head felt too heavy and she placed her forehead to the ground, crying. Suddenly strong, warm hands pulled at her shoulders and lifted her up so she was sitting. Lynx tensed for a moment, then relaxed when she felt no terror, only the feeling of protection.

The hands brushed back her hair and offered her water, which she drank greedily and gratefully. She tried to lie back down and arms circled her, cradling her. She shivered and they held more tightly.

xXxXxXxXx

Her fever broke the next day, and she woke curled against someone's chest with their arms around her. She looked up at the face of the person holding her and sighed. No wonder she had felt protected, as green eyes blinked open and smiled down at her.

"I thought you couldn't change." She told Wolf rhetorically. He shrugged, knowing she knew that he had risked the Death Eaters knowing their whereabouts so he could take care of her.

She knew instinctively that this was her Wolf, and not an imposter, and not the otherworlder, but hers, though his being there was impossible.

Protector, companion, friend. Someone she could trust with her life and her heart. A mate, whom she could turn to in any moment of joy or grief. A leader, someone to rule beside her.

She sighed blissfully and laid her head against his shoulder. "Harry."

She didn't even argue as he scooped her up and started walking again. South. Always south, away from the fortress above.

In fact, she sort of liked being held like that. But still she hoped the potion would wear off soon, so she could run with him hard and fast, and as far away from the fortress as possible.

xXxXxXxXx

Severus Snape had burst in and informed the Order of the Phoenix of where the fortress was in the nick of time. The Order had charged there and now a great battle ensued.

Albus Dumbledore stood to watch it all for a moment, just a moment, before he lent his hand to the fray.

_Why must it always come to this, Tom? _His mind asked the snake-like man within. _Why blood and death? And what was the purpose of this trap with Lynx?_

_Where are Wolf and Lynx now?_

_And more importantly: Who will be lost this time?_

xXxXxXxXx

Will Lynx and Wolf make it home safe? Will the battle end well? Will the Pack and Pride EVER get home? Fine out next time in: Battle.


	8. The Beginning of the End

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

"Padfoot! Duck!"

Sirius complied without thinking and hit the ground just as a jet of green light flew over his head and impacted the wall.

_Whoo_, he thought, _that was a bit too close for comfort._

He glanced around for his helper and caught Moony's eye, tapping his chin in the Marauder hand-sign for 'thanks'. Moony nodded and went back to fighting. It was getting into a lull now, in that slow period as people got tired, before throwing themselves back into battle fever.

Sure enough, that battle fever phase came again, and he fought his way to the small medical bay they had set up on their side where his wife was working through patients with the ease of long practice. Aletha gave him a small smile when she saw him, but spared no more attention from the leg she was working on.

Sirius slumped against a broken part of the wall for a moment, giving himself a small breather.

_Why did we do this again?_ he thought vaguely. _It's not even our fight._

_Because,_ argued the more reasonable part of him—the part that sounded most frighteningly like his wife—_could you really watch copies of your friends die and not do anything about it? Despite popular belief you do have brains inside that skull, Sirius Valentine Black, so use them!_

Chuckling quietly he stood up and gave over to battle fever again, taking down Death Eaters as he went. He caught sight of Moony, fighting almost side by side with Dumbledore, using both fire and spells.

Movement to his right made him look as Danger ducked a spell that blew open the wall and revealed a straight drop down a cliff.

_Oh, that's not good._

He made his way over as quickly as he could, his brain rushing frantically as he watched the woman he considered his sister duel against his cousin.

_Good old Bella. Should have known I would see you again, _passed through his head, immediately followed by _Danger's not the best with wand work to begin with and Moony's too preoccupied to help._

Everything after that came in slow motion. First the spell that Bellatrix shot at Danger, then his Pack-sister ducking and finding her cloak caught on a ragged rock. He didn't even think as he pushed her roughly out of the way as the spell hit him and he tumbled over the broken bit of wall and towards the cliff drop below.

"SIRIUS!"

* * *

Harry woke up slowly, feeling, amazingly, safe—not to mention slightly squashed by a weight on his right side. He blinked several times, then slowly turned his head. Then he fought to keep his face the same general color, as it felt remarkably as if one could fry an egg on it.

Sometime during the night, it seemed, Ginny had kicked out of her bag and decided Harry would be a fine pillow. She had her arms wrapped around him and her face against his shoulder, sleeping peacefully.

From somewhere to his left there was a snicker.

"You think this is funny, don't you?" he asked whoever was laughing irritably.

"Very," Neville's voice answered. No, he corrected himself as the boy came into view, not Neville. It was Shade, the Otherworld Neville. And there was a difference. The Otherworld version was more confident, more sure of himself, maybe even happier.

"Oh, don't worry," Neenie's voice said next. "Wolf had to go through almost the same thing. Except it was his leg Lynx fell asleep on."

"Go ahead and embarrass our brother, why don't you," Fox said.

"I will, thanks."

"That was sarcasm."

"You should have said."

"I didn't think it needed to be said!"

Ginny was rousing now, breathing deeply against his shoulder. Her eyes opened and she gasped and sat up, her face going the color of her hair. Harry sat up as well, hitching away from her without looking like that was what he was doing.

Six pairs of amused eyes watched them.

"'Smatter?" Ron grumbled as he woke up.

"Nothing," Ginny said hurriedly.

Finally what had happened sank in to Harry.

_We slept in the same room as WHO?_

Harry became even more confused when Luna and Meghan sat up straighter at the same time.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked.

"We need to get outside," Luna said, just as Meghan replied, "There's something wrong with the castle."

"Something wrong with the castle?" Redwing asked, even as he helped fold up the makeshift nest the Pride had slept in with the ease of years of practice.

"Did I stutter?" Meghan snapped, calming instantly when Shade put a hand on her shoulder.

Redwing glared at her. "No need to get snippy, Pearl. I was just asking!"

"Will you both shut it?" Fox cut in, looking worriedly at Luna, who was pale. "I think something big's about to happen."

"How big? Hagrid riding Norbert big?" Shade asked.

"Bigger," Luna said breathlessly.

"Oh boy," Ginny remarked. "That can't be good."

"It isn't," Fox told her.

"But how do I know something is wrong?" Meghan asked, her anger segueing into confusion. "Alex?"

"Yes?" a voice asked from the bedroom with the green banner over it.

"How can I know something is wrong with the castle?" Meghan asked again, this time directed at the voice.

"You're connected to it, you sense it," the voice named Alex answered cryptically.

"Oh, thanks. I never would have figured that out if you hadn't answered so clearly," Meghan said sarcastically.

There was a smacking sound from the green bedroom, much like someone being hit over the head, and then a female voice none of the Otherworld kids seemed to know said, "Answer them right, Alexander Slytherin!"

"Ow! Anne! That hurt!"

"It was supposed to."

Several of the girls, both Otherworld and not, giggled behind their hands. The boys smirked.

"You're a blood Heir of one of the Founders," Alex answered, his voice grumpy. "The castle tells you when something is wrong, because it's your job to fix it."

"Thank you," Meghan said, this time more honestly. "And thank you Anne, whoever you are."

"You're entirely welcome," the woman replied. "Really, it was fun."

"Fun for whom?" Alex yelped.

The voices faded away, leaving more laughs behind.

"So we have to fix it?" Neville asked nervously after a moment.

"No, I think _we _have to fix it," Fox said, indicating the Otherworlders.

"You _all_ have to fix it!" came the voice of Alex again. "_We need each other, one and all, To live and to live well._"

"Yes, yes, thank you Alex," Neenie replied flatly.

Alex's voice faded again, grumbling about ungrateful people and iambic tetrameter.

"So what do we do? None of the adults will listen to us, they're all at the battle!" Neville said, slightly hysterical. "Who's left? Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout? Professor Sinistra?"

Meghan put a glowing blue hand on the back of his neck and his muscles relaxed.

"Was I ever like that?" Shade asked, looking at the deeply-breathing, quickly-calming Neville.

"Yes," his five Pridemates answered impishly in not quite unison. He glared at them all.

By mutual consent they all split up to get dressed and met back down there in ten minutes.

"So what do we do now?" Ron asked when they were all together again.

"Run screaming like little girls into the night?" Fox suggested. He was promptly running away from a _very_ irate cat, owl, and doe, all of whom, judging by the looks on their faces, were chasing him with malice intended.

"We search the grounds," Neenie said decisively when they were done and Fox had pleaded mercy ("Kidding, kidding!").

"Even after that asinine comment that almost got you killed," Starwing added with a look at Fox, he held up his hands in surrender again. "I'll be paired with Fox, if you like."

"Good idea," Neenie agreed. "Those of use with Animagus forms can take the outside of the castle. Draco with Luna, Neville with Meghan, Ron with me...you know, perhaps that's not the best idea..."

She was answered with a chorus of boos, which only made her grin.

"You six," she continued, "can take our copy of the Map and your copy. Split into two groups. And bring both Harry's and Wolf's Cloaks."

Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Luna, and Neville nodded their consent, and they split into their groups, all of them looking determined.

* * *

_Oh, great idea Hermione,_ cat-Neenie thought to herself as she picked her way through part of the Forbidden Forest. _We'll take the Forest, you stay inside._

Wheeling high above her head, Redwing let out an ear-piercing shriek. He shrieked twice and screamed once, and then wheeled right and screamed three times. Then he swooped down a little and back up, slashing his talons in a mock battle.

_Found something, three miles to your right. Be careful, danger, _Neenie interpreted as Ron performed the signals they had formed for their scouting.

She clawed her way up a tree and leapt lightly branch to branch, picking her way towards where Redwing had pointed. Once she was close she heard gruff voices and snaps of cloaks as well as smelt the distinct combination of rage and glee which only meant one thing: Death Eaters.

Neenie crouched low into the underbrush and clawed her way forward until she could get a good look.

_Oh, this can't be good._

The Death Eater's had, self evidently, breached the wards without any undo effects, which was nearly impossible.

_Unless..._

The wards would only falter enough to allow such penetration if someone who had helped construct them had died.

_Oh no, oh no..._

"Look at this!" a voice snarled from above her. She had been so preoccupied in her thoughts she hadn't even noticed his approach. "A pretty kitty, come to spy on the nasty Death Eaters? But you're not a kitty at all, are you?"

Her world abruptly went black.

* * *

Meghan shifted back into human form abruptly, feeling her pendants, which had gotten even colder.

"Neenie," she moaned, glimpsing the new shine on the carving of the cat. "And Dadfoot?" Her father's dog carving was glowing like a bright star.

Shade came over and shifted back. "Meghan, we have to keep moving!"

"Shade, Neenie's in trouble and so is Dadfoot!"

"Pearl," Shade said lowly, "hundred of lives for one. We have to keep searching."

Meghan choked back her tears and set her jaw, knowing he was right and that they could do nothing for her sister and her father right now. She shifted back to her doe form and kept searching.

* * *

Lynx and Wolf were walking together now, her potion having worn off more and more each hour. Now they rested, only partway down the mountain, as Wolf told her how he came to be there in the first place.

Lynx turned to look at him, her red hair looking auburn in the light as she looked at him incredulously. "So you wanted to get to me so much you actually Apparated yourself out of Hogwarts?"

Wolf nodded his head slowly. "I didn't do it on purpose. Why do you have that look on your face?"

"Because—" She gave him a mischievous grin, letting her hands hover over the small fire. "You have to remind me to kiss you until you can't see straight when this was over."

Wolf gave her a grin that fit his nickname, but it disappeared when a twig snapped nearby.

"I know they're nearby," a strange voice said. "I swear I can see them."

Wolf snuffed the fire instantly and turned to her. "Can you change?"

Lynx closed her eyes for a moment before opening them and nodding. "I think so."

"Good. Let's go."

A second later a black wolf and a red lynx darted silently out of their cave and farther down the mountain, away from their pursuers. They stopped when they hit a small knot of Death Eaters.

"We'll circle them to the south," one, who was obviously the leader, hissed. "They'll never escape the dark lord."

**What do we do now? **Lynx asked, a bit desperately.

**If your enemy knows where you're going to be, **Wolf answered, **then don't be there.**

**Go back up the mountain? Are you sure _I _was the one who nearly died of hypothermia?**

**Positive.**

For a moment, all he could see was Ginny sticking her tongue out at him, but then the mental image faded. With silent chuckles, he wheeled around and ran back up. It took hours, but they made it to the base of the fortress, in far less time than it had taken their human selves to get away from it.

**Got to be a charm, **Lynx grumbled. **Once you're on the grounds it's easy to find and hard to run away from.**

**Possibly, **Wolf agreed, **but—**

**What? **Lynx asked worriedly as he cut himself off.

**The Pack-parents are up there! **Wolf explained, his nose pointed toward the source of most of the flashing lights. Lynx lifted her own head, sniffing, and could recognize the scents of Wolf's four parents as well.

**Are we going to help? **she asked.

**Was that a real question? **he answered.

Together they prowled, hunting the people who tried to hurt their Pack and trying to find a way into the castle.

* * *

Fox stumbled in his fox form into a tree and yipped painfully as he felt his twin's surprise and pain.

_Neenie! _he thought desperately, and changed back. Starwing landed next him and changed herself. He could see the worry on her face.

"Neenie's hurt," he gasped to her. "Something's happened. None of this is right!" he shouted the last. She darted forward and clapped a hand over his mouth, but too late.

"What have we here?" the smooth, oily voice was Lucius Malfoy. The hackles rose on both of them. "Two lovers on a romp, I very much doubt."

Fox turned. "Hello, Lucius."

"Ah." Lucius Malfoy sneered. "I know of you. The boy from the alternate universe. The one who renounced his name and pretends he is not my son."

"I am not," Fox replied smoothly. Lucius was so caught up in Fox that he didn't notice Starwing fading back until it was too late to stop her. "But I do believe you're about to become very familiar with the ground."

"What are you talking about, boy?" Lucius asked.

"I believe he's referring to me," Starwing replied. Lucius spun and she hit a spot on his neck that dropped him instantly.

"Good work," Fox told her, grinning.

"Thanks," she answered, then continued like it was any other day. "Remind me I have something important to tell you when we get back."

"What is it?"

"If I tell you now, you'll faint."

"That bad, huh?"

"That good," she replied.

"Fine, fine." The situation fell on him again. "Let's go."

A fox and an owl took off while the rest of the world spun around them.

* * *

Danger hit the ground hard and screamed, bringing Remus instantly to her side.

"What happened?"

"SIRIUS!"

They both turned as Letha stared in horror...

...at the gaping hole in the wall behind them.

"No!" Remus lunged forward and leaned dangerously out of the hole, so far that Danger had to pull him back for fear of losing him too. "No, that can't have happened!"

_I'll never forgive you for this, Voldemort,_ Danger thought, listening to her husband howl like a wounded wolf and feeling the ache in her heart.

* * *

Voldemort relished in the feeling of death and despair around him. His plans were finally falling into place, and with a perfection not even he could have foreseen.

"_Tonight_," he hissed to Nagini, "_is the night the line of Potter falls for good._"

* * *

A/n: I'm evil. I know. I also apologize for taking so long to update. Tell me I'm evil. Review! Thanks to MercuryBlue for beta-ing this chapter! 


	9. The Vicious Circle

Disclaimer: As usual, I own nothing.

A/n: Sorry for the long wait, but I have a job now (argh). Also, keep in mind that things are not always as they seem, and that dead authors can't write more. Oh, and the cowboy-ninja-pirate thing is not mine. It's from a guy named Garth Graham. Very funny.

* * *

For not the first time in his life, Sirius Black was grateful he was not afraid of heights. And that his upper-body strength was above average.

_And honestly, is there some __**Dark Lord's Guide to Fortresses**__ that I missed? Step one: Shadows. Step two: Huge, looming cliff…_

He'd laugh at himself, except it would echo – and echoing was the last thing he wanted right now. Hanging off the side of a cliff, the only thing keeping him on being own two hands and whatever foothold he could sustain for a time, was _not _an advantageous position.

_I need help, _he admitted finally, and tried not to think of the comebacks his family would say to that.

"Help!" he managed to call out. "Somebody! Anybody!"

* * *

Lynx stopped abruptly, so that Wolf crashed headlong into her and both went tumbling snout-over-paw. 

**What, **Wolf demanded, when they finally got untangled. **Was **_**that**_

**I thought I heard something**, she answered.

**You did. Me hitting the ground.**

She shifted suddenly back to human and leapt lightly onto the cliff face, hands and feet nimbly fitting into holds.

**Are you **_**insane**_he asked as he watched.

**Yes. You're in Sane as well. Welcome. We've been expecting you. **

**You've lost your mind, **Wolf remarked casually in response to that.

**Can't lose something you never had! **she answered cheerfully.

By this time he had also started to climb the rock face. **Mind telling me why we're climbing up a cliff? **he asked finally, when they had made it about a third of the way up.

**Of course not**, she answered, but said nothing.

**You're being difficult! **He informed her after a moment, and was rewarded simply with a sunny smile. **Fine, **_**will **_**you tell me?**

**Yes. I think I heard someone calling for help. **

**And if it's a Death Eater? **He shifted weight to his left foot and shoved up higher, grabbing a hand-hold while she did the same a few feet ahead.

**We'll push him off. **

Behind her, Wolf rolled his eyes. **You have a morbid mind, love. **

**Why, thank you. And if its not a Death Eater, they had to fall from somewhere. There's our way in. **

Wolf had to admit it was a solid plan. **You're scary, you know that? Brilliant, but scary. **

**Oh dear Godric's socks, **Lynx said suddenly. She was more than a few feet above him, so he settled against the rock and tapped in to look through her eyes, which she let him do gladly.

She saw Padfoot, hanging by only two hands off a very precarious ledge.

"Padfoot," he said, aloud but softly enough that he didn't break his godfather's concentration.

"Harry?" Sirius looked to the side in astonishment. "Greeneyes what are you doing up here?"

"Climbing."

"Obviously. I mean, how did you get here? And don't say 'with your hands'. I know all your best lines."

"You _taught _me all my best lines," Wolf shot back. "This is where I Apparated to. Lynx and I were looking for a way in to help fight."

"Great, I always knew I liked you," Padfoot said to Lynx. "Now a little help would be much appreciated."

"Coming right up," Wolf answered promptly, and went to work on the idea Lynx had just sent him.

* * *

Padfoot breathed a sigh of relief, and jumped as he felt something warm wrap around his waist. He looked down; it was fire. 

"I hope you know what you're doing," he said to his beloved godson lightly.

"Me too," Wolf's voice answered.

_Well, __**that **__isn't reassuring, _he thought, before he stopped thinking at all as the rope of fire hauled him up to Wolf and Lynx, and didn't disappear until his hold on the rock was steady.

"Okay, _never _do that again," he ordered when he was sure he could talk again.

"Will do," Wolf answered. The rope of fire twined around his godson for a moment, reminding Sirius of a cat wanting to be told how brave and clever it had been. Wolf let the fire swirl around his hands for a moment before dismissing it.

"Cool trick," Lynx quipped with a grin. She had used the time to lever herself farther up the rock wall, and was now peering curiously at the hole he had fallen out of. "Nice hole. Where'd it come from?"

"I thought the place needed a bit of renovation," Padfoot answered lightly, giving Wolf a hand up to the next foothold. He could see the flashes of light in the distance that signified the battle, but they weren't in the room anymore. "Got a plan? Or is this pretty much a spur of the moment thing?"

"Spur of the moment," Wolf and Lynx answered – in unison and without missing a beat.

Padfoot shook his head at them and climbed in through the hole, breathing in a sigh of relief once his feet were firmly on solid ground.

"It's creepy enough when Remus and Danger do that," he told them, grabbing his godson's hand and pulling him up through the hole before reaching down to help Lynx.

"Thank you," Wolf's voice said through Lynx's mouth.

Sirius shook his head again and let go of Lynx's arm, turning around to take his godson into his arms for a long moment. "Be careful, cub," he said finally, and let him go.

All the humor fled from Wolf's eyes and he took Lynx's hand solemnly. "Always, Padfoot. Good luck." The humor came back. "Don't go falling through any other holes…"

"Without you there to see, I know," Sirius finished with a weak chuckle. "Go quick."

Then he grabbed his wand back up and cheerfully went to go throw himself back into the battle.

* * *

Moony fought through his pain, literally, by taking it out on any Death Eater that had the misfortune to meet the end of his wand. His spells had never been this strong or this powerful. 

_Aletha must be feeling the same, _he mused distantly as he saw one of her spells fling her adversary into a crumbling rock-wall.

Everything he thought or felt now was distant or half-felt at best, and even the sounds had faded back into almost nothing, until –

"Why don't you die!"

Remus disarmed and stunned his latest enemy, and turned to see Bellatrix fighting spell-for-spell with –

_No…_he thought, shocked. _That's not possible! _But his head and his heart both wanted to believe that Sirius was standing there, smiling mockingly at his cousin.

"Luck, I guess," the apparition that looked like Sirius said in Sirius' voice. Then his hand flickered towards Moony and the werewolf had to grin.

"_Get back to fighting, flea-bag" indeed. _

Oh, there had to be a story behind this, but Moony couldn't afford to be distracted for a more than a few moments, so he quickly turned back to the battle before he gave the Pack anything else to mourn.

Danger was smiling at him from across the room where she had just knocked out a Death Eater.

**Its really him, love, **she told him, and any last doubts fled his mind.

But he still had to ask…**How do you know?**

**Our favorite snakey friend. **

**Sangre? **

Remus got the impression that if she wasn't so busy with the battle, she'd come over and smack him. Instead he turned just in time to see Padfoot send a wink at a stunned Aletha, before Moony changed into his lion Animagus form and proceeding to ravage the opposition.

* * *

"Where now?" Lynx asked quietly after the closing door muffled the sounds of the battle behind Padfoot. 

Wolf closed his eyes for a long moment before turning and pointing in the opposite direction of the battle. "There. A little higher up, but the presence of Voldemort is coming from over there."

"All right," Lynx nodded decisively. "We'll go there, beat him, stop the battle, and get back to Hogwarts in time for lunch."

Wolf watched her walk towards the door he had pointed to with muted amazement and amusement.

_I'm going to marry that girl some day…_

**You better believe it, mister. **

**Eavesdropper.**

Lynx turned around and lifted an eyebrow at him. **I neither drop from eaves nor drop eaves on anyone, thank you very much.**

**Literalist.**

**Name-caller.**

* * *

Lord Voldemort looked up and hissed slightly. There it was again, that foreign feeling, that…he fought the urge to shudder. Whatever it was, it was too _good_ – it didn't belong here, in his fortress. It was an intruder. 

_:Nagini,: _he called. The large snake lifted her head, tongue flicking out to taste the air as he called.

_:Yesss, massster?: _she answered in adoring tones.

_:Go. Find the intruders. Bring them to me.: _

The snake quickly went to do as told, and Lord Voldemort leaned back in his chair, contemplating.

_It is not as though my Death Eaters are winning or losing the fight to any great extent. _He smirked. _Even the great Albus Dumbledore can't compete with sheer numbers, and numbers I have._

He had identified the foreign presence as soon as he had called for his snake: Potter. However, it was Potter in a state he was unused to sensing; it was Potter in love. Sure, Potter had _felt _love, adoration, and affection for people, but he had never been _in _love as completely as this presence was now.

Which only meant this was the foreign, otherworld intruder.

_Even more excellent. My plans can only continue quicker for it. Potter is of little or no threat, he can be disposed of easily. _

He turned back towards his mirror and cast the spell again. Time to put the final stages of his plans to destroy both Potters in motion.

* * *

For one brief, paralyzing moment Aletha was in complete shock. Her inner emotions waged war with themselves until she pushed them away under firm Healer's resolve. It was only during a slight lull, when Sirius had pushed his way towards her, that she allowed herself to look at him. 

"I saw you fall," she said simply, flatly.

"You did," he answered, his gray eyes sparkling. "I fell and caught a ledge. Wolf and Lynx climbed up and helped me." He grabbed her hand and brought it up to the firm line of his jaw. "Letha, it's really me."

She smiled, briefly. "Should've known you're too stubborn to die."

"Damn straight."

"Wolf and Lynx are here?" she continued.

"Here, going after Voldemort," he confirmed. His face was completely sober now and she nodded. She didn't like the thought of her Pack-son going off to fight Voldemort, but their fight was here and now.

_Good luck, cub, _she thought in the direction of Harry (wherever that may be). _Don't do anything stupid without us there to make fun of you. _

If she hadn't turned off her pendants in time for the battle, she would have seen all of the carvings of the cubs shining like supernovas.

* * *

_There. _Harry nodded firmly as the last student below fifteen was safely behind the closed and locked – magically or otherwise – portraits and defenses. All of the younger students were as safe now as they were ever going to be. 

"All clear," he said into his DA galleon (hanging on a thong around his neck). It had taken Hermione all of two seconds to turn them into communicating devices. "All the Gryffindors are locked up. Check in."

"Hufflepuffs are safe, Harry," Ron's voice said.

"Ravenclaws are as well," came Luna.

"Any Slytherin that didn't feel like kicking or cursing me is safe too, if anyone cares," Ginny's voice said sardonically.

"All right," Harry said, half his mind on what he was saying and half on the area around him. "Remember our strategy. Luna and Neville, take the Hufflepuffs and patrol the south part of the castle, Hermione and Ron, the east, the teachers have the west, and Ginny and I have the north. No one gets in without us knowing."

"I'll make sure all of the secret entrances are blocked as well," Hermione (who had one of the maps – Luna had the other) said.

"Good idea. Ginny, I'll met up with you beside the statue of Bartleby the Barmy, okay?"

"Got it."

"And has anyone heard from the Pride?" he asked, worry creeping into his voice despite his best efforts.

Neville finally voiced what he and the rest didn't want to. "Nothing."

For some reason he couldn't identify, that sent a chill down his spine. "They have their secret passages in, right."

"Right," Hermione said slowly and regretfully.

"Then lets lock down the doors."

Ron's voice was small when he spoke up again. "I like 'em, Harry. They're just regular people like us, trying to deal. Hope nothing happened to them."

"Me too, Ron," Harry said as he tucked his Galleon back underneath his shirt. "Me too."

But he had the awful feeling that something already had.

* * *

**Do you smell something? **

**We're in Voldemort's fortress. I'm trying not to think about what I smell. **

Lynx crouched into the shadows and shifted forms for a moment. She became human again a second later and mouthed one word to him: Nagini.

Wolf grinned like his form, all of his teeth showing. Lynx matched him tooth for tooth.

**Here snakey, snakey, snakey… **He heard Lynx think 'loudly'. **Come see nice Ginny. I got a surprise for you. A nice, sharp surprise. **

**Dibs. **

**No fair, you killed the Nagini in our world. **

**Ninja, pirate, cowboy you for it. **

**Which one wins again? **

**Cowboy beats ninja, ninja beats pirate, pirate beats cowboy. **

**Right, got it. **

As the snake continued its examination of the corridor at least 100 meters from them, the two mentally took three steps away and threw images at each other.

Lynx threw one of her all in black, with knives on her wrist and a katana in her hands. Wolf threw one of him with a red bandana, eye-patch, and full swarthy regalia.

**Yes! **Lynx mentally claimed victory and crouched again, her form changing without thought.

As she approached the snake reared back and hissed at her. Lynx lifted a paw and spread the toes, making sharp, lethal claws pop out. She wiggled them at Nagini in a come-hither gesture. Wolf heard her thought in his mind.

**Bring it on, snakey. **

He pulled his dagger from its sheath in his pants as he crouched down as well, ready to have support if need be.

There was no need.

A few scuffling sounds later and Lynx came back, dragging the now limp and fully dead body of the once-terrifying body of the large snake with a highly satisfied look on her face.

**Dinner? **she offered, grinning mentally.

**No, thanks. Snake gives me constipation. **

Their humor died the closer and closer they got to the spot Wolf was being drawn to. He put his Occlumency shields up to full, imagining them as all-encompassing flames protecting him, leaving only his connection with Lynx open.

The hallway in front of them was completely deserted, silent even from the sounds of battle. They could see the door to the room were Voldemort was: light from the flames that lit the room flickered out into the pitch dark corridor.

**This doesn't feel right, **Wolf said solemnly in her mind.

Lynx nodded tensely. He couldn't see it, but he could feel it.

**It's too easy, **she answered. **And if it's too easy…**

…**we're being expected. **He finished. **So we don't let him know that we know that he knows we're here. **

**Any other time, and you wouldn't be able to say something like that without a comment. **

He handed his dagger to her and called the Gryffindor sword to his hands. It belonged there, and wanted to be there, so it answered his call in a small burst of flame.

The name Godric Gryffindor glittered, the flames dancing like blood across the blade. Wolf repressed a shudder, and hoped it wasn't an omen. He nudged the door open with his foot.

"Hello, Potter," Voldemort said the moment he stepped into the room.

"Riddle," Wolf answered curtly. Lynx too her place by his side, both her wand and the dagger at the ready.

Red eyes narrowed but he didn't respond with his usual burst of anger.

"I see you've come to join our little get-together," Voldemort continued in a level, pleasant voice, as if they had come to join him for tea and biscuits. "And dear me, I forgot to provide entertainment."

"The only entertainment I need a dance of blades, Tom," Wolf answered calmly. "But if you want, we can watch a movie first. It has a nice ending. The bad guy dies."

"Oh, if it's a movie you want, it's a movie you shall get," Voldemort said, and waved his wand towards the mirror behind him. It enlarged to full length, and showed a white fox – doused in dirt - slipping beneath the roots of one of the enormous trees in the Forbidden Forest.

Wolf stiffened as he recognized his brother's Animagus form, but otherwise made no outward sign. Voldemort knew anyway.

"Ah! I see you recognize one of our stars!"

"You can't scry into Hogwarts," Wolf said firmly, and shook his head slightly like a dog trying to clear its ears. "I'm not going to be distracted by gimmicks."

_:However, lying in Parseltongue is impossible,: _Voldemort literally hissed now. Wolf felt Lynx stiffen at his side as she picked up the translation from his mind. _:And I am telling you that the images in this mirror are all true.:_

Wolf watched the mirror now, unable to look away. Snow Fox picked his way across the floor of the forest, silent as his form allowed him to be, and crept up on a Death Eater party.

And he watched as Lucius Malfoy – looking decidedly like he had been knocked over the head - crept up on Lunaand knocked her unconscious.

**She's with the Pride, **Lynx said in his mind when his emotions roiled violently. **She's with the Pride. They wouldn't leave her. She'll be fine. **

The pendants, cold against their skins, were of no help.

And so they watched.

They watched as Starwing was given to the Death Eaters. Watched as they tortured her.

…watched as Draco leapt to her defense and was cut down by his father. Watch as Fox was overpowered and had his dagger wrestled from him.

…watched as Malfoy gained the upper hand. Watched as Fox reached out to Luna just before his father dealt the killing blow.

They watched in horror as Starwing screamed and fought against her attackers so violently that they cut her down, a flash of green ending it all.

Watched as Meghan was caught and held against Neville. As Neville was tortured and Meghan was forced to watch. As Meghan was overpowered by Dementors in time to see Neville take his last, rattling breath.

They watched as the man who had betrayed so many people picked up the cat that was his sister and tossed her like so much garbage into the middle of a group of Death Eaters. Watching as they changed her back into his human sister and kicked her.

…watched as the red hawk circling above screamed defiance and plummeted, quick as a shot, for the Death Eaters. Watched as it dodged one purple curse, two –

…watched as it snapped open its wings to rake with its vicious talons or change back to human, whichever was more effective, and have a purple curse hit its mark. With a spurt of blood and a scream of agony Redwing fell to the ground, human again, with his arm separated from his body.

Lynx snapped. With a scream not entirely sane she threw herself at Voldemort. He made a motion with his hand and sickly green magic struck out at her. She flew into a wall and her connection with him abruptly wavered.

That was the last straw. Wolf felt the animal part take over as anger swept up into primal rage like nothing he had ever felt. This man had killed his parents.

Had killed his sisters. His brother. His Pridemates.

And perhaps the worst of all, he had touched Wolf's mate with his sick magic. He had tainted her.

He would _**die **_for this, and everything else he had done.

Wolf's vision turned red – flames licked up the side of the sword –

* * *

-- and watching it all, safe in his other universe, Wolf's Voldemort held his hand over a bowl of shimmering green liquid and laughed.

* * *

A/n: Heh. Remember. Dead no writing. Um...you love me::runs and hides:: 


	10. The Grand Finale

A/n: It's the end of the end, people! Hold on tight... Disclaimer: I own nothing. NOTHING. _

* * *

_

_I hate rats. _

Neenie snarled quietly at the back of Peter Pettigrew and tested the ropes around her wrists; they didn't give. She hissed deep in her throat, managing to sound like her Animagus form, and Pettigrew looked behind him and twitched.

_You better twitch, Ratty. _She spent the better part of the next minute having visions of grabbing Pettigrew by his wormy tail and flinging him against a tree before deciding that—fun as it was—it wasn't helping matters.

_What to do, what to do…_it was times like this she wished she had a connection to Ron like Harry had with Ginny——

Neenie stifled a gasp as a memory came flooding back to her.

"_You may have noticed that Fawkes has just recently been reborn. When I went to brush away the ashes, these came with him. Fawkes created these."_

She twisted against the tree bark just enough to bring her hand up; she'd been struggling for the last fifteen minutes or so, and this wouldn't be out of place. Her hand hit a fine silver chain against her golden one and she sighed in relief. She moved it down a little until her bound fingers came in contact with the pendant.

…**I can't just dive down there, it'll make a lot of noise, yeah, but it won't help her any, and I need to help her, I have to, if anything happens to her—**

**RON!**

Far above the Death Eater camp a red-feathered hawk forgot to flap momentarily. He fell several feet in the air before his wings pushed him back up again.

**Ne—Neenie? What's going on?**

**There's no time to explain**, Neenie said quickly, pushing her wave of joy and relief to the back of her mind. **Can you see how many Death Eaters there are? **

**Sure. **The answer came almost immediately. **Five to six in your general area. About ten in another clearing a hundred meters out, but they're heading towards the school even now. It looks like you're in their camp. **

**Excellent. **Neenie practically purred as a plan fell into place in her mind. She showed it to Redwing, and felt his grin.

**Let's do it.**

* * *

The man known as Wormtail, who had once been Peter Pettigrew, fought an internal battle. The girl he had caught was Remus' _daughter_, and Remus would definitely kill Wormtail for hurting her, even if he _did _let her go.

But no, it was too dangerous to let her escape… his Animagus form quivered in fear of hers, as his human form did of what she meant to him...

Wormtail jumped as something—some _demon—_screamed above them. The scream was answered a moment later on the other side of the clearing. All Wormtail could comprehend was flashing lights and sounds of animals before he was on his back.

Remus' girl had him pinned.

"That's impossible!" he gasped out, before her knee pressed against his throat and made further speech come second to breathing.

A dagger shone in her hand as she pressed it beneath his chin. "It's not, actually," she said, and something about her eyes was familiar to him. It took him a moment to place it, since his happy memories were the ones he tried to keep away.

Her eyes shone in the exact way Remus's used to when he was at his most angry—his maddest.

"Are you going to kill me?" Wormtail squeaked.

The girl removed the dagger, flipped it so that the hilt was towards him, and shook her head. Hope bubbled inside his chest.

"Several other people have first dibs," was the last thing he heard for a long time as the glittering blue hilt connected with his temple.

* * *

Fox grinned maliciously as he watched his twin sister take out Wormtail.

"Fun?" he asked as he gave her a hand up.

Neenie matched his grin perfectly. "Lots. Want a shot?" She gestured at the unconscious man.

Fox shook his hand regretfully. "Padfoot wouldn't like it if he we didn't leave some for him."

Redwing, who had been helping Starwing tie up the Death Eaters, came over just in time to here this. He laughed out loud and put on his best whining voice.

"But I _wanna _kick the Death Eater!"

He smirked as Fox and Neenie laughed.

Starwing smiled vaguely as she came to join them, a long lock of white-blonde hair in her fist. Fox gave it a questioning glance. Her smile turned predatory.

"Your beloved birth father tried to sneak up on me," she informed him calmly, sending a glance over her shoulder.

Fox followed her line of sight and nearly choked. Lucius Malfoy hanging upside down in a tree was an interesting thing to behold.

He put his arm around her shoulder and kissed her temple. "I _love _you."

Several minutes later, four highly satisfied animals went back to patrolling in peace, leaving a bunch of unarmed, unconscious, and undressed Death Eaters in their wake.

* * *

Pearl, her hooves picking across the forest floor carefully, stopped short. She felt the nothing in the air beside her do the same.

"What is it?" Neville's voice whispered a moment later. Pearl transformed back into a human and nodded up at where a white owl was perched in a tree.

"Starwing," she whispered back.

Neville whispered them invisible to everyone but the Pride. and Hands clasped, they waited. Thirty seconds later, a troop of Death Eaters marched past, exactly where they would have been.

Pearl shivered as she realized, had Starwing not been there, they would have been captured. Neville tucked her firmly against his side, wrapped an arm around her waist, and nodded to the owl, which bobbed its head back with a soft hoot and flapped off.

"Let's keep going," he said after a moment. "Harry and the others can take care of the Death Eaters up at the castle. We need to stop more from coming in."

Pearl nodded, and a moment later, a deer and a demiguise resumed their guard of the boundaries.

* * *

Harry watched as dots labeled Avery and Nott came onto the map he held in his hands, followed by eight or nine other Death Eater dots. He screwed his face up.

"What is it?" Hermione asked. She and the other DA "leaders" had come to check in with him, and the Map had switched hands.

"Ten?" he said to the parchment incredulously. "Voldemort thinks _ten _Death Eaters is all it takes to—"

"Take a mostly defenseless castle from a bunch of kids?" Hermione finished reasonably. "The fact that he underestimates us is his greatest weakness."

Harry nodded, accepting her point. "Spread out," he ordered to the assembled DA. "It looks like they're coming right in through the front doors."

"They think we won't be on guard," Susan Bones added.

Harry grinned in a way he'd learned from Wolf at her. "So let's prove them wrong."

All in all, it took about ten minutes to take the Death Eaters out.

They locked them in the dungeons for good measure.

* * *

Wolf spun around, fire spitting from his sword, and caught Voldemort's strike with his own just as the cold of his pendants disappeared. He was so surprised he almost pulled back, but years of training kept his sword arm locked in place.

In front of him, Voldemort's face wavered for a moment.

Wolf disengaged, sending a kick into the Dark Lord's chest that sent him stumbling backwards, and snatched a look at the mirror. The images in it wavered, then dissolved into his Pride, perfectly okay, bundling up a bunch of Death Eaters.

He growled and spun back on Voldemort.

The Dark Lord sent a green spell whirring towards him. Wolf deflected it with his sword and shot a spell of his own. Lights flashed everywhere as the battle raged, sword and dagger mingling with Voldemort's spells.

* * *

Lynx remembered flying through the air. She remembered relaxing her muscles so the impact wouldn't be so bad, remembered knowing that at the least she'd be knocked out, remembered cursing herself. She remembered pain—lots and lots of pain, both emotional and physical.

Now arms cradled her—protected her. She groaned as her pain came back, muscles that twinged as she tried to move, a sore throat and a throbbing head...

"Redheads," said the voice of the person holding her. "Can't ever control their tempers."

Lynx groaned again and opened her eyes a little at a time, so as not to give herself more of a headache. The face that hovered above her was topped by messy black hair; she smiled and looked past the glasses into hazel eyes.

_Hazel eyes?!_

She gasped and sprang into a sitting position, only to be pushed down by another pair of hands.

"Sit down!" another voice snapped. "Honestly! You shouldn't be moving yet."

Lynx let herself be pushed back and forced her sluggish mind to piece together the facts. She stared at the face above her again.

"Prongs?"

James Potter grinned down at her. "The one and only."

Lynx gritted her teeth. "I died?" she asked, her voice full of self-directed anger.

"Not exactly," the other voice said.

James' face moved out of her vision, to be replaced by another that was just as easily recognizable. Lily Potter's smile wasn't as raucous or mischievous as her husband's, but kind and affectionate.

"You did quite a number on yourself," Lily continued, cradling Lynx's head in such a way that a bit of her headache dissipated.

Lynx made an unladylike snort. "I figured death wouldn't be as painful as this. But…why are you here?"

"We are the Guardians," James said cryptically, in a sepulchral voice. "We are the ones to escort the deceased Pack and Pride members on."

Lynx raised an eyebrow at the voice. "Was that really necessary? I thought you said I didn't die…"

Lily shook her head. "I said you didn't die _exactly_. Now, we don't normally do this…"

"Are you guardians like Alex is?" Lynx interrupted, some things clicking in her mind.

Lily paused for a long moment, as if conferring with someone Lynx couldn't see. When she finally answered, it was hesitantly. "I suppose you could say that."

Lynx nodded as much as possible. "Isn't there a 'no interference' rule, then?"

"Would you rather be dead?" James asked blandly.

"Sorry," Lynx said quickly.

Lily laughed lightly. "Normally there _is _a 'no interference' rule, or we would have appeared for a certain son of ours long before this. But this whole mixing of worlds wasn't supposed to happen in the first place, so everyone has been given free rein to do whatever is necessary to fix this."

"Free rein?"

"Free rein," Lily confirmed, with a significant glance upwards. "_Whatever_ is necessary."

Lynx grinned in a way she'd picked up from the twins. "Cool."

"Can I continue?" Lily inquired dryly; Lynx nodded. "Thank you. As I said, we don't normally do this, but Wolf needs to win this battle against that world's Voldemort. Now listen carefully, Ginevra Molly Weasley, because this next bit is important."

Lynx nodded again, more seriously.

"Wolf needs to win, because when he does it'll cause something of a chain reaction. The injuries his causes _this _world's Voldemort will affect _your _world's Voldemort. They won't be defeated—not by a long shot—but they _will _be out of the picture for a good time. Long enough that everyone can gather their forces back up again, and get everything settled from this little…world escapade."

Lynx took a deep breath and immediately regretted it. "And my choice? You mentioned I had a choice."

Lily nodded again. "You see, Lynx, there's a lot of technicalities in here. Our problem is that you're…well, you're dead."

"You call that _your _problem?" Lynx exclaimed, with some justice.

Lily gave her a look. "What did I say about interrupting?"

"Sorry, continue."

"Thanks ever so," Lily said blandly. "Like I was _saying_, our problem is that you're dead, but it's not your _time_. Nor is it even your world. So you're not _supposed _to be dead, at least not yet."

Lynx bit back a comment about _that _last statement.

"However, it did happen. So here's the choice you're presented with. We can return you to life. It'll be painful, because we won't be able to heal you, and we don't know the side-affects the injuries you sustained—while no longer being life threatening—will have on your body, but we _can _do it."

"Or?" Lynx prompted when Lily hesitated.

"Or you could stay here. The Oath you swore with my son and the rest of your friends permits you life here. You'll become a Guardian, watching over the worlds along with James, myself, and others, and making sure they go as planned. But…"

"But what?" Lynx snapped.

"But you'll have to give up love," Lily said slowly. "You won't be able to feel emotions like love anymore, because you'll be leaving Wolf behind, and you won't be a good Guardian if you're forever grieving for the love you can't have."

Lynx swallowed hard as she tried to imagine it. "What about Wolf?" she asked quietly.

"Wolf would go on," James said. "He'd do what he had to do. He'd eventually find someone he'd love second best, and die…whenever he's set to die."

"You don't want me to," Lynx observed quietly. "You don't want me to choose the second one. You want me to go back, even if I'm forever crippled."

"So what if you are?" Lily countered.

"I'll be a nuisance!" Lynx shouted back. "I'll be a burden. I won't be able to fight alongside those I love. It would be a nightmare in real life, with no escape."

Lily started to shout back, and stopped when James put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head. Lynx pushed herself up to glare at him.

"You have to make this decision on your own," James told her, refusing to wither under her glare. "What we want or think can't be part of it."

Lynx shoved herself away from Lily's arms to lie on the grass beneath them all, feeling it tickle the back of her neck through her hair. It brought a memory surging into her mind, from back in fifth year, back when Wolf had been hiding from Professor Umbridge, who had expelled him and tried her best to persecute him.

_

* * *

_

_The third time it happened she reached back quicker. Her fingers encountered flesh and she twisted to the side, sending Harry rolling over her and onto the grass on her other side. He was laughing, a piece of grass in his hands. _

"_You're dead!" she growled, pouncing on him. _

_They wrestled playfully for several moments before she managed to gain the upper hand. _

"_Pinned ya!" Ginny crowed, making herself comfortable with her position on his chest. "Again. You're really losing your touch, Potter." _

"_Oh really," Harry asked mischievously. He reached up and dug his finger into her ribs before she could react. _

_Ginny shrieked and launched herself to the other side, out of the way of his attacking fingers, and another game began; he attacking and she evading. It continued, sometimes as human, sometimes as animals, and sometimes as a combination, until they both lay exhausted, panting and laughing on the ground. _

_Harry stretched out an arm that snaked around her and pulled her close to him. She snuggled against his side. _

"_What was your life before the Pack moved to Devon?" he asked unexpectedly after a few moments. _

_Ginny turned and smiled into his shoulder. "A little lonely," she answered after some thought. "Ron was always older. Sometimes he would let me play with him, but sometimes I was the dreaded __**girl **__and he didn't. Luna was nice, and my age, but a little weird. Why do you ask?" _

"_Because," he answered, "I want to know everything about you. What made you the person you are today, and I realized I'd never asked you that before." _

_She lifted her head from his shoulder to look him directly in the eyes. "Philosophical today, aren't we?" _

_Harry chuckled. "I had a lot of time to think last night and…I don't know why I didn't see you before." _

_Ginny put her head back against his chest, listening to his heart thumping beneath her ear. "You did see me," she answered after a minute. "But at first I was just Ron's little sister, and that girl who blushed every time she saw you." _

_He chuckled again, and this time she felt it as well as heard it. _

"_And after that I was your Pridemate, but __**still **__Ron's little sister, and your brain was twice as fervent about blocking those kinds of thoughts about me. And then you got distracted by Cho…"_

"_I like to think of those as 'The Lost Years'," Harry interrupted. _

_Ginny reached up a hand to smack the top of his head, but it only made him laugh again. _

"_And after __**that **__I was still your Pridemate, and still Ron's sister, but now your thoughts were heading in my direction and that little person on your shoulder was saying 'That's WRONG, mister!'..." She lifted her head to look at him, "So…mmmf." _

_Harry had effectively shut her up. _

"_Can't we say that life is wonderful and complicated and go with that?" he asked wistfully when they were done._

_Ginny let out a dramatic sigh. "I __**suppose**__," she consented mischievously. _

"_Good." Harry nodded and pulled her closer. "Then here's to our complicatedly wonderful life, and to never having to live it without each other again. My lady."_

_And they went back to their previous occupation. _

* * *

Wolf's proclamation had started out as a joke, but gotten progressively more serious as time passed. To the point where the thought of him facing Voldemort and losing would sometimes give her nightmares; thankfully, though, they usually came to her in places where he was able and ready to comfort her, to prove that it all wasn't true, to whisper in her ear that it wouldn't happen…

But it _had_ happened; just not to the person they thought it would.

She opened her mouth to ask Lily what she thought, opinions and interference be damned.

"I'll go back."

Well, she hadn't meant to say _that. _

However, upon a moment's thought, she realized that didn't make it any less true. She _was _going back, for better or worse. She couldn't leave her beloved there to fight alone.

Lily relaxed all over and all at once, all the muscles in her body loosening. "Thank Merlin."

Lynx frowned. "What would have happened if I'd made the other choice?"

Lily met her squarely in the eyes. "At some point in the battle, Wolf would have made his way over to you. When he realized you were dead, he would have lost his mind—quite literally. His control over fire would collapse, burning the entire upper floor of the tower in a flood of flames."

"He would have told it to burn everything," James said quietly. "Including himself."

"That world's Voldemort would be sent back into his half-living form; not alive but not dead, looking for a body," Lily continued. "He would have found one eventually, and then that world's Harry would have to face him in battle. The Voldemort in your world wouldn't be affected by the flames. He'd grow stronger and more powerful, and eventually gain control as he had originally planned to do sixteen years ago."

Lynx shuddered, and kept on shuddering, thinking about the fate she had almost doomed everyone she knew and loved to.

"I want to go back now," she said quietly, but surely.

Lily smiled at her. "Just say the words."

"So I speak, so I intend," Lynx recited.

James and Lily put their hands to her forehead.

"And so let it be done."

* * *

Wolf was tiring. He knew it, knew it as surely as the blade in his hand. He was good for ten more minutes of this kind of fighting; dodging, rolling, slashing with his sword where he could, shooting spells where he couldn't. His eyes kept darting back to Lynx, motionless against the wall.

_Just let me get to her, _he thought. _Just let me get over to her. Let me make sure she's okay. _

It was at that moment that a spell caught him in the leg. Wolf went down hard, his wand flying from his hand and skidding across the stone floor to the other side of the room. Something in his left arm snapped, making the sword useless. He looked up into Voldemort's red eyes, and closed his own so he wouldn't have to see them.

"_You'll be down," _he remembered Padfoot's voice saying. _"Bullies always wait until you're down; seemingly defenseless, seemingly defeated. And sure as he is a coward, he will try to kick you."_

Voldemort cast the Full Body Bind on him. Immediately, Wolf began to break it from the inside. Three blinks of his left eye.

Voldemort lifted his wand, chuckling as he described what he was going to do to Wolf's Pride. Wolf ignored him. Three blinks of his right eye.

Time seemed to slow as the first syllable of "Avada" left the Dark Lord's lips. Five rapid, hard blinks of both eyes; he felt the spell crumble.

The second syllable came out just as Wolf's eyes flew to Lynx's body. Hers were wide and open, shining with love and fear for him. He winked at her.

"Kedav-"

Quick as the snakes he could talk to, Wolf lunged. A scream of agony ripped out of his throat as he forced his broken left arm to move, but move it did; swiftly and surely it buried the blade it held in the Dark Lord's gut.

Voldemort looked down at it in astonishment, as if believing it would disappear if he looked long enough…

…and then he crumbled into dust.

He wasn't gone—Wolf knew he wasn't, even as he felt _his _world's Voldemort crumble as well. They both had fail-safes; they always did. The Order of the Phoenix had maybe two months before the Dark Lord was back in action, but two months would be enough to regain their feet, and maybe an edge.

He managed to make it to Lynx's side before he blacked out.

* * *

"…broke every bone in her body…"

"…don't know how he manages to get himself…"

"…lucky like that…"

"Wha?" Wolf blinked his eyes open blearily. Everything was fuzzy and blurry; he could vaguely make out shapes moving above him.

"He's awake!" Meghan threw herself onto his bed and hugged him tightly around the neck.

Confused and disoriented as he was, Wolf hugged back. "Need to breathe, Megs," he said in a choked whisper.

Meghan giggled and let go. Neenie was next in line for hugs, but she kept hers in check. "You gave us a really bad scare, Wolf," she scolded. "Don't ever do it again."

"Never," Wolf smirked. "Right. Remember who you're talking to?"

Fox laughed from nearby. "You're the one who got hit with more spells than a Charms teacher. Do _you_ remember anything?"

Wolf let himself fall back as he saw the rest of his Pack and Pride standing around his bed and closed his eyes. "Stabbed Voldemort," he said tiredly. "It was fun."

**Well good morning, love, **said the voice he most wanted to hear in his head. **Sleep well?**

**Would've slept better if you were over here, **he replied mischievously.

Lynx administered a mental smack. **I already broke every bone in my body for you, boyo. Don't push it. **

**Every bone? **Only her mental presence kept him from darting to his feet and leaping onto the bed next to his to take her into his arms. **Are you all right?**

**I'm perfectly fine, or I would be if Madame Pomfrey would let me out of this damn bed. **

**Language, love, **he said affectionately.

"Can we go home now?" he asked aloud. Apparently he sounded enough like a plaintive child to make his Pack-parents laugh.

"In fact, yes," Dumbledore said from somewhere nearby. Wolf opened his eyes to look at the Headmaster. "It will take significant power, but if your Neville and Meghan are willing to accept power from our Hogwarts, I see no reason why you cannot go home as soon as certain people are allowed to leave their beds."

* * *

Poppy Pomfrey leapt to her feet as the hospital room outside her office erupted in noise.

She calmed down when she realized it was only cheering.

* * *

One by one, the members of the Pack and the Pride stepped through the hole in space and time; Meghan and Shade first so as to keep the hole open, until only Wolf and Lynx remained on the side with Harry and his friends.

Lynx pressed Wolf's hand once and stepped through. Wolf turned to Harry.

"All right?" he asked quietly, holding out his hand.

Harry looked at Ginny beside him, took her hand, and looked back at Wolf. "All right."

Two hands clasped.

Wolf stepped through, and all of them waved until their Others couldn't be seen anymore.

* * *

"Well," Harry said to his friends as the hole disappeared. "I think I liked them."

Everyone stared at him for a long moment before they started laughing.

* * *

"Home sweet Nuthouse," Padfoot said as soon as the hole closed behind Wolf.

He was tackled before the last word even left his mouth

That particular adventure ended as all adventures should end, with much laughter and rejoicing.

And kissing. Of course kissing.

* * *

A/n: Well, there we go folks. I thought the last line was a good one to end the story. ;-) As always, thank you to the wonderful Anne Walsh (whydoyouneedtoknow) for beta-ing! 


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